(JNi.media) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday will convene the Security Cabinet to approve his campaign against stone and Molotov cocktail throwers. The Prime Minister’s Office statement said that the program would include three main measures: changing the rules of engagement, the imposition of minimum sentences on stone and Molotov cocktail throwers, and the imposition of heavy fines on the parents of minors caught throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. Nonpayment of the fines will lead to the denial of social security benefits.
Regarding the vehement objections of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to the changes in the rules of engagement, which come down to employing police snipers to fire live bullets at rioters, the Prime Minister’s Office said that Netanyahu is determined to deliver his plan to the cabinet, followed by a speedy enactment into a law. The Prime Minister made it clear that he would not heed the AG’s ruling.
According to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, at this point, the responsibility for the safety of Israeli civilians against Arab rioters has fallen on the legislature. She said the Prosecution has already issued charges in anticipation of the new, stricter policy, adding that she saw no point in making the changes temporary, to deal only with the current crisis of violent riots in Jerusalem and elsewhere—she intends to submit a law with a three-year sunset.
According to Shaked, “If a child is caught and is under the age of criminal responsibility, the parents must deposit a collateral sum, guaranteeing that the minor not return to rioting for a year. The money would be returned in a year if the minor’s record remains unblemished. Otherwise, the money would be confiscated. There will be other financial penalties, all intended to force parents to take responsibility for their terrorist minors.
“The riots in Jerusalem are part of the wild anti-Semitic Incitement by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas,” Shaked said. “They literally spread blood libels and lies to serve their political ends. Until that does not stop, the riots won’t stop. But with heavy financial punishment in the neighborhoods we can reduce this phenomenon.”
