Netanyahu: Citizens must not take law into own hands
Netanyahu deplores lynching of innocent Eritrean man in midst of terror attack, while Lieberman slams PM over his failure to address incitement stemming from Islamic movement and Arab MKs.
“We are seeing the merger of radical Islam and the internet, its Bin Laden meets Facebook,” he said at the opening of his party’s weekly meeting. “The incitement on social media is motivating terrorists to carry out attacks. We can see very clearly that the incitement is targeted, and comes from a variety of sources including Hamas, the Islamic Movement, and the Palestinian Authority.”
Netanyahu also sent his condolences to the family of the Golani soldier murdered in Sunday's attack in Be'er Sheva, Omri Levy, as well as to the “worker from Eritrea."
"We are in a continuous struggle, a struggle we will clearly win, but this struggle also tends to cause friction,” he said.
“The citizens who are being attacked have responded resourcefully, but the crowds which happen upon these scenes must turn to security forces – no one should take the law into their own hands,” Netanyahu said, and added that, “We will announce a number of steps in the coming days, we cannot allow Israeli citizens to incite acts of violence that cost innocent people their lives.“
MK Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) criticized Netanyahu on Monday afternoon, saying that, “When the prime minister receives the Joint Arab List in his office with much fanfare, he both legitimizes them and provides them with a nice check - now we are reaping the results.”
“Those who wish to avoid reality, and not deal with Haneen Zoabi, Jamal Zahalka, and all their incitement against the State of Israel and the Jews, shouldn’t be surprised by the emergence of terrorists from Nazareth and from among the Bedouin population,” Lieberman said. “All of the legitimacy that is being given to these people is inexcusable, and amounts to playing with fire,” he concluded.
Lieberman also reacted to the lynching of Haptom Zerhom, a 29-year-old Eritrean national who was believed at first to be a terrorist, saying, “Its unacceptable that citizens have taken the law into their own hands. The government’s policies have led to anarchy. These actions are inappropriate, and I place the blame on the government.”
According to him, “I can’t understand or accept that after everything that has happened, the Islamic movement still hasn’t been outlawed.” Lieberman advised immediate action against the movement, saying, “We must seize all of their assets and bank accounts. These actions are within the purview of the minister of defense, they do not even require a government or cabinet decision.“
The former foreign minister added that, “In the case of the terrorist from Umm Al Fahm, and the terrorist who conducted last night’s attack, were all a result of failed practice of family reunions.“ Adding that, “Anyone who wishes to reunite with their families should do it in Gaza, not in the State of Israel.”
In relation to proposed legislation which sought to bar funding for parties who support boycotts against the State of Israel, Lieberman said that: “It was supposed to go through a ministerial committee today, but half an hour before the meeting I was notified that the prime minister had asked to delay the process without any explanation.”
According to him, “These kinds of things are very typical for the prime minister. I cannot accept that, and there is no reason that parties which support the boycott should receive any taxpayer funding.”
