Netanyahu decries Jewish extremists
Israel vows ‘zero tolerance’ after gay pride parade attack, burning of Palestinian child
JERUSALEM— Israel’s security cabinet has approved new measures against Israelis who attack Palestinians and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government will have “zero tolerance” for Jewish extremists.
Sunday’s tough talk followed a pair of attacks last week that shocked Israelis.
On Friday, suspected Jewish extremists set fire to a Palestinian home in the West Bank and burned a toddler to death. On Thursday, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed revellers at a gay pride parade in Jerusalem, and a 16-year-old girl wounded in that attack died of her wounds Sunday.
Israel’s security cabinet issued a statement Sunday night saying it had directed the security agencies “to take all necessary steps to apprehend those responsible and prevent similar acts.”
It said the measures would include using “administrative detention,” under which detainees can be held for months or years without charges. Israel has defended the administrative detention of Palestinians as a necessary tool for preventing militant attacks.
At his weekly government meeting, Netanyahu said Israel was united against “the criminals among our people.”
Israel is determined to fight “hate, fanaticism and terrorism from whatever side,” Netanyahu said. “This is a matter of basic humanity and is at the foundation of our enlightened Jewish values,” he said.
Thousands of Israelis took to the streets over the weekend to protest against the attacks and warn against a radicalized and violent fringe growing within the country’s religious community.
Several hundred people convened in Jerusalem’s central Zion Square to rally against violence soon after news broke that the teenage girl injured in Thursday’s attack had died of her wounds.
Shira Banki, 16, was among six people wounded by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man, Yishai Schlissel, who carried out a similar attack on a gay pride parade in 2005. Schlissel had angrily spoken out against the parade after his release from prison three weeks earlier.
Extending his condolences to her family, Netanyahu said Shira was killed “because she courageously supported the principle that everyone is entitled to live their lives in dignity and safety.”
Banki’s organs will be donated, said a spokeswoman for the Hadassah Medical Centre.
On Friday, Schlissel was brought before a judge, who ordered he remain under arrest for 12 days. He has not yet been charged, but will likely face murder and attempted murder counts.
Schlissel said he did not recognize the authority of the court because it did not follow religious rule.
Jerusalem, known for its rich religious history and tradition, holds a modest pride parade annually in contrast to the large parade in nearby liberal Tel Aviv, which drew more than 100,000 people this year.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, a group advocating Israeli-Palestinian coexistence held a prayer vigil in the afternoon with dozens of Israelis and Palestinians.
“We have to look to be neighbours in a good way and to believe that the path to peace is the right one,” said Ziad Zabateen, a Palestinian from Bethlehem.
“We have no other choice, we have to live together without problems, without violence, without terror, without anything.”