Minister Aharonovitch: Extreme rightists – terrorists

Addressing firebomb attack on Palestinian vehicle, internal security minister says fighting Jewish violence in West Bank 'not simple task'

Neri Brenner|Published: 08.28.12 , 21:31

Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch has demanded that the State consider Jewish communities with a high concentration of extreme rightists "terror organizations."

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Addressing the recent arrest of three Jewish teenagers from the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin on suspicion of hurling a Molotov cocktail at a Palestinian vehicle, the minister said, "There is no difference between a 12-year-old kid and a 25-year-old man who throws firebombs.

"There is a legal difference, but I claim that in settlements such as Bat Ayin, where there are concentrations of extreme rightists – (these places) should, for all intents and purposes, be considered terror organizations," the minister said Tuesday at a cornerstone laying ceremony for a police station in Ashdod.

Six Palestinians were injured in the incident, which occurred some two weeks ago. Earlier this week police arrested three Jewish teenagers, aged 12-13, on suspicion that they hurled the Molotov cocktail at the Palestinian vehicle as it was travelling near Bat Ayin.

"Today it is cars (that are attacked), in the past it was mosques. The attacks on holy sites are a very severe problem. There is the uprooting of trees and other acts of terror which must be addressed. I am confident that the police, IDF and the Shin Bet will do their job, which is not simple, because we know who we are dealing with," Aharonovitch said.

Following the firebomb incident, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and promised him that Israel would make every effort to bring the perpetrators to justice.