Security officials, including senior Shin Bet officers, have been meeting recently with national-religious rabbis with influence in the settlements, urging them to quell independent action by Jews against Arabs in Judea and Samaria, Reshet Bet radio reported Sunday morning.
The security officials expressed concern to the rabbis about the increase in the phenomenon of independent actions that are harming the Arabs––which they claim escalate the situation and impair the efforts of the security forces to thwart terrorism. They made it clear in those meetings that they take Jewish retaliation seriously because it forces the security apparatus to divert forces from anti-terrorist activities to eradicate Jewish violence.
Last Wednesday, a meeting was held between senior Shin Bet officers and Rabbi Haim Drukman and his associates at his home near Ashkelon. Consequently, Rabbi Drukman sent out an appeal to yeshiva rabbis asking them to act to prevent independent punitive actions in villages adjacent to Jewish settlements, and prevent friction with the Arab population that could lead to further escalation and harm IDF soldiers.
Religious Zionism Chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich tweeted earlier that Israeli security forces are not facing Arab “civilian disorder” but are engaged in a war against an enemy, inferring that the problem is not Jews escalating their neighbors’ violence – Israel is engaged in a war with those “neighbors.”
“In war as in war, large IDF forces must be brought tonight into the neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem, impose a general curfew on them, suppress the terrorist attacks with a heavy hand, and shoot anyone who raises a stone, a baton, a firebomb, or a weapon – so they will see and fear us,” Smotrich said.
Security officials told Kan 11 News they were satisfied with the responsibility shown by the rabbinical leadership that joined the effort to eradicate Jewish violence, which could have caused the area to be set on fire and escalate even further. The same officials sought to clarify that the majority of Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria disapprove of the violent actions and understand their consequences.
Meanwhile, Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-on on Saturday said the settlers are doing pogroms against the Arabs, and that’s the reason for the escalation. “The army secures convoys of settlers with all kinds of marches and it’s a provocation. Whoever proposes to bring more forces into the territories –– will enter this area into an unnecessary escalation. There should be a firmer hand towards settlers,” she said.
Gal-on added that IDF soldiers also need to be restrained and called on Defense Minister Benny Gantz to do so. “There’s a crazy increase in the number of Palestinians killed,” she said. “I think there’s a loosening of restraints in certain circumstances, combined with the easing of the rules of engagement,” she suggested.
