‘I understand the pain, but we must not take the law into our hands,’ says National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir
During a meeting of his Jewish Power party at the Evyatar outpost in the West Bank, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told Israeli citizens not to take the law into their own hands.
“The attack yesterday is a severe and shocking attack that should teach us all that we are at war. This is not a war from yesterday and it is not a war that will end in one day, but it is a war that must inspire us all to adopt a policy of a real war on terror,” the minister stated, referring to the Huwara terror attack that left two Israelis dead.
“The terrorists must be crushed, and it is time to return to the targeted threats and eliminate the leaders of the inciting terrorist organizations. I want to be clear about the pictures from Huwara,” he said, in reference to the deadly riots undertaken by settlers. “I understand the pain, but we must not take the law into our own hands. The one who needs to deal with terrorism and deter it is the Israeli government and not the citizens.”
Also on Monday, a lawmaker from Ben-Gvir’s party, Zvika Fogel, stated: “A closed, burnt Huwara — that’s what I want to see,” following the shooting attack. Fogel added: “The act that the residents of Judea and Samaria carried out yesterday is the strongest deterrent that the State of Israel has had since Operation Defensive Shield. After a murder like yesterday, villages should burn when the Israeli military does not act.”
This sentiment was contradicted by Yoav Kisch, a Likud lawmaker who tweeted: “There is only one element whose role is to protect the citizens of Israel, and that is the Israel Defense Forces. Citizens who take the law into their own hands, create anarchy. Kisch, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s party continued, “Knesset members from the coalition who encourage such behavior should be ashamed.”
Additionally, Daniella Weiss – the head of the Nahala Settlement Movement – told i24NEWS, “We came here to stay.”
When asked if she would condemn the attacks in Huwara by the settlers, Weiss responded that she “condemned the Palestinian Authority, who consistently speaks about and supports terror against Jews. This is the thing that I condemn.” When the question of whether she would condemn the settler riots was asked again, she repeated that she condemns “one thing, the killing of Jews.”
