Bibi Brands ‘Price Tag’ Attacks Stain on Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak condemned violence by right-wing extremists on Tuesday, vowing to use all means to eradicate the phenomenon.
Speaking at a Hanukkah ceremony at the Efraim Regional Brigade’s base near the West Bank city of Qalqilya – that was attacked by some 50 extremists a week ago – Netanyahu likened the incident to a stain on a white shirt. “If you take the whitest shirt and put one stain on it, the entire shirt will look stained. This is a stain on all of Israel and on a population of settlers that are not part of this phenomenon.” Netanyahu added that “this stain must be erased.”
Barak told reporters that he thought the incidents should be labeled as terrorism, but that “the legal definition is less important than the actions that need to be taken.” He said that these steps include emergency legislation and harsher punishments.
Last week, Netanyahu approved a series of steps that would crack down on Jewish extremists responsible for recent violent attacks on IDF soldiers and other targets, but rejected a recommendation to label them a “terror group.”
Netanyahu also gave IDF soldiers the authority to carry out arrests in the West Bank and to increase the number of activists from the extreme right that could be removed from the West Bank.
In the attack on the Efraim base last Tuesday, right-wing activists threw stones at region’s brigade commander and his deputy after forcefully opening the door to their jeep. The brigade commander was lightly wounded after a stone hit his head.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
In addition to the attack on the IDF base, right-wing activists blocked a main West Bank road and threw stones at passing Palestinian vehicles and IDF soldiers in the area.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
