Cabinet discusses threats to Sharon
Shin Bet chief says no need to arrest right-wing extremists yet
JERUSALEM - Shin Bet Chief Avi Dichter told the cabinet on Sunday that while the Shin Bet has the legal authority to arrest right-wing extremists in response to growing disengagement plan-related incitement, he does not recommend it at this stage.
“The law allows the Shin Bet to carry out pre-emptive arrests, various types of secret interrogations and administrative detention,” Dichter said.
However, he said he did not recommend such measures at this time.
Ministers present for the discussion said Dichter’s presentation to the cabinet suggested the “the worst lies ahead.”
At the end of the discussion, the government unanimously approved the creation of a special unit in the Justice Ministry, headed by deputy Attorney General Shai Nitzan, to handle such cases.
“This isn’t personal," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in response to the threats against him. "I’m not afraid. It doesn’t affect my work.”
'Sharon will meet Arafat in hell'
Dichter said extremist calls have been increasing and outlined to those present the tools at his disposal to address this trend. Attorney General Menachem (Meni) Mazuz and senior justice officials also participated in this special meeting on the issue.
The Shin Bet chief presented to ministers a briefing that included sentences from letters that reached senior officials and extremist sayings from public leaders. Among the most disturbing were:
- “The sentence for someone who divides Israel is death”
- “The prime minister is subject to ‘din rodef’ and should be murdered” (“Din rodef” refers to religious license to kill a fellow Jew. Prior to the murder by Yigal Amir of prime minister of Yitzhak Rabin, some right-wing extemists and rabbis Rabin was subject to din rodef for ceding land to the Palestinians.)
- “Yigal Amir lives, Rabin is dead, Sharon will die”
- “Sharon will meet Arafat in hell”
- “We should pray for the death of the prime minister because this will stop the political process”
- “If only Sharon will be among the evacuators and gets a bullet in the head”
- “People must be wiling to give up their lives for the disengagement”
During the meeting, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Likud) presented a proposal to create a special unit to investigate and take action against such incitement.
“Preparations for the disengagement will include the creation of a unit intended to fight incitement and those who disturb the peace,” she said.
This is an emergency situation
“The message from the government table is that there should be aggressive action aginst those who violate the law and call for violence, but it is forbidden to go out in the streets and begin arresting anyone who says something we don’t’ like. But for acts of violence there should be no tolerance.”
Shai Nitzhan, deputy attorney general, said that the new unit to be created in the Justice Ministry will deal only on the issue of violence and incitement and there will be a prosecutor assigned to every case that is opened.
During the discussion, Minister Haim Ramon (Labor) criticized the justice establishment for not doing enough in light of the threats made against the prime minister.
“This is an emergency situation,” he said, directing his marks to Sharon. “There needs to be a temporary order. All the rabbis who are public servants and call to murder you, prime minister, are getting wages. What’s happening with this? Even educators are public servants and they are attending this gatherings.”
Ramon demanded that the legal establishment present a clear plan to the government on the matter of incitement and that practical steps be taken to enforce the law.
Minister Dalia Itzik (Labor) said in response to the presentation that “such statements were uttered before the Rabin murder.”
Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) said that he was more disturbed after the meeting than he was when he entered.
“In 1995 (when Rabin was killed) I went crazy and said there would be a murder here. I am disturbed by the ‘Yigal Amirs’ dispersed out there and those we don’t know. The most dangerous incitement is that said by someone claiming to be speaking for Jewish law.”
