Cabinet approves ‘aggressive steps’ in wake of attacks
Hebron region cordoned off, all relatives of terrorists to be investigated • Bennett, Liberman face off over IDF measures
Israel is using new “aggressive measures” against terrorism, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet on Sunday, hours after his security cabinet decided on a series of steps aimed at tamping down the recent uptick in attacks.
Among these measures, he said, are cordoning off the Hebron region, home to 700,000 people; denial of work permits for residents of Bani Na’im, the village near Hebron where six recent attackers have come from; a massive deployment of IDF units in the region, with a focus on securing the roads; and automatically investigating family members of Muhammad Tarayrah, the murderer of 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel in Kiryat Arba last week, and “arresting them in accordance with the level of their involvement.”
A sister of Tarayrah was arrested over the weekend on charges of incitement stemming from remarks she made in the past in the Palestinian media.
The prime minister also said the cabinet next week would discuss a “special program” to strengthen Kiryat Arba. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, in response to the Kiryat Arba attack, decided even before the meeting to market 42 new housing units near the Ariel home, in the Givat Harsina neighborhood.
Netanyahu said he directed his ministers to “combine measures in all ministries to help communities in Judea and Samaria.”
Sunday’s cabinet meeting was delayed some 90 minutes because a special security cabinet meeting the night before lasted more than four hours and ending after 2 a.m.
The decisions Netanyahu spelled out to his ministers were decided there. The security cabinet also decided to subtract from the tax and tariff money Israel transfers to the Palestinian Authority every month the
sum the PA pays to terrorists and their families, and to set up a cemetery for terrorists, a move advocated by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who has come out against giving the bodies of terrorists to their families for burial.
A sharp disagreement erupted in the cabinet meeting between Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Liberman, with Liberman at one point reportedly telling IDF officers not to answer Bennett’s questions. Bennett repeatedly drilled the IDF officers about claims that the family members of terrorists have been brought to trial on incitement charges.
Before the cabinet meeting, Construction Minister Yoav Gallant – a member of the security cabinet – described the measures taken as “localized” and “responsible.”
Gallant said Israel is in the midst of 100-year struggle against terrorism, “and I think we will know how to get to every one of the murderers and pull them from their beds and bring them either to prison or to the cemetery.”
He slammed Bennett for the latter’s criticism of the security cabinet, saying it is unacceptable for one member of the 10-person body to attack it.
Another security cabinet member, National Infrastructure Minister Yuval Steinitz, told Israel Radio that a measure to automatically investigate family members, including for the possibility that they engaged in incitement in either the social media or traditional media, could have an impact.
“If the murderer knows that his parents and siblings may be sent to prison because of incitement that in many cases can be determined from them, I think it will create a deterrent,” he said.
Also on Sunday, Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the IDF’s coordinator of government activities in the territories (COGAT), banned the PA’s Hebron Gov. Kamal Khamid from entering Israel after the latter visited Tarayrah’s relatives.
“Supporting terrorism has many expressions,” a message on the COGAT Facebook account read. “Yesterday, the governor of Hebron... visited the families of the relatives from Bani Na’im. Visiting the families is agreeing to despicable murder and encourages terrorism.
“What is the message? Is the Hebron governor expressing support for the murderer of a 13-year-old girl? We expect the Palestinian leadership to take responsibility and call for calm and tolerance,” the message continued.
“Israel will not help those who support terrorism,” it said, adding that Khamid’s entry permit to Israel had been revoked.
Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report. •