VIDEO - Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan, has ordered the police to open a criminal investigation following the Hebron settlers' outbursts against the IDF following Saturday night's evacuation of the home of extreme right-wing activist Noam Federman.
Nitzan's order was in line with Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's opinion.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak respondedto cries by extreme rightists against IDF soldiers and said, "We cannot put up with this phenomenon."
Barak told listeners at an evening honoring paratroopers that the extremists who express such sentiments must be punished.
"The security establishment will do everything to protect the settlers, but will also respond harshly against anyone who dares harm the law enforcement authorities," he said.
One of the settlers told Army Radio, "We hope they are defeated by their enemies, we hope that they all become (kidnapped soldier) Gilad Shalit, that they are all killed and that they are all slaughtered, because that's what they deserve,"
An extreme right-wing activists who damaged Palestinian property following the evacuation told Ynet "as far as we're concerned, the army and police have crossed a red line – you cannot expel Jews and not expect a painful response," said of an illegal outpost occupied by fellow rightist Noam Federman in the West Bank city of Hebron.
Four suspects were arrested during clashes that erupted between the settlers and security forces, including Noam Federman. Meanwhile, another group of settlers hurled stones at nearby homes of Palestinians and vandalized a Palestinian cemetery in the city.
"Demolishing Federman's home and throwing his wife and children to the street is a grave act – and we won’t accept the 'rule of law' excuse," one of the rightist's told Ynet on Sunday.
"There are hundreds of Palestinian homes in Hebron, and the security forces don't come near them. We've stopped being suckers a long time ago and will not allow the expulsion of Jews without a painful reaction on our part."
'We never forgot'
The right-wing activist said the relative calm that prevailed in Hebron ended with Saturday's incident. "Federman's evacuation has taken us several years back. Now Hebron is burning, divided and licking its wounds," he said.
Right-wing activist Baruch Marzel called the evacuation a "pogrom carried out by cowards" and vowed that the settlers would retaliate.
"I blame Brigadier General Noam Tibon, commander of the Judea and Samaria Division," he said.
"From our standpoint he's the hostile element that came to hurt the settlement enterprise. We never forgot how he demolished the home of Nati Ozeri and threw his wife and kids to the street, and now he has done the same thing with Federman – but we are not suckers."
Efrat Weiss contributed to the report
First published: 17:51, 10.26.8