Bibi Vows Crackdown on Anti-Army Extremists
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the attack by right-wing extremists on an IDF base in the West Bank has “crossed all the lines,” and that he intends to establish a special task force to tackle the growing phenomenon.
“I intend to fight with all my power as the prime minister of Israel,” he said. “I met today with the head of the Shin Bet security service, the chief of police and the IDF chief of staff, and I’ve asked the defense minister to prepare this week a plan to take care of the rioters.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu said the situation is “intolerable,” adding that “we must take care of these rioters with a firm hand. We will not tolerate a situation in which IDF officers and soldiers are attacked and distracted from protecting Israeli citizens.”
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni (Kadima) harshly condemned the attack on Tuesday, adding that anyone who commits acts of violence against IDF soldiers does so due to the current climate in the Knesset.
In a statement, Livni claimed that the current government is “partner” to a wave of legislation that must be stopped, and that the latest incidents of right-wing violence are not random, but rather constitute a “struggle over Zionism and over the character of Israel. ” Livni also spoke directly to Netanyahu, saying that the prime minister treats the incidents as matters of law enforcement rather than ideology, because “he feels uncomfortable confronting his natural allies.”
Early Tuesday morning, some 50 settlers and right-wing activists entered a West Bank military base and threw rocks, burned tires, and vandalized military vehicles. An IDF officer was lightly wounded as a result of the rock-throwing.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
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