by Mati Tuchfeld, Gideon Allon and Israel Hayom Staff
Likud, Habayit Hayehudi MKs demand Prime Minister Netanyahu halt peace talks with the Palestinians, planned prisoners' release over attack of 9-year-old • MK Chetboun demands military operation in Judea and Samaria • MK Elkin: It is time we face reality.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented Sunday on the terror attack that took place at the Ramallah-adjacent Judea and Samaria community of Psagot on Saturday night, in which a terrorist wounded 9-year-old Noam Glick, saying, "The Israeli government takes this incident, in which a 9-year-old girl was the victim of a heinous attack, very seriously."
Speaking ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that "as long as the Palestinian media continues to promote incitement the Palestinian Authority cannot wash its hands of it." According to Israel Radio, the prime minister told the cabinet that while 2013 has, so far, been the quietest of the decade, there has been a recent rise in terror attacks. "The inciters and murderers won't win. We are here, and here we will stay," Netanyahu went on to say. He added that the government's thoughts and prayers were with the Glick family.
Noam was rushed to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem apparently suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. Dr. Dan Fink, head of the Pediatric Cardiology Unit at Shaare Zedek, told Channel 2 her condition was stable.
In the wake of the terror attack, Knesset members from the political Right demanded that Netanyahu suspend the peace talks with the Palestinians.
Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi) called on Netanyahu to halt the planned release of Palestinian prisoners, which Israel had committed to as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinian Authority, ahead of the resumption of the peace talks.
Speaking to Army Radio on Saturday night, Ariel urged Netanyahu to allow Israeli security forces to act firmly against terrorism, saying, "murderous terrorism is rearing its head once again and we cannot allow that to happen."
Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud) said that, "Anyone who backs terrorists is not worthy of being called a peace partner. We have to put an end to the Palestinian leadership's hypocrisy. … Those who target a 9-year-old girl -- their blood is on their own head."
Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) added that, "Once more we see how the Arabs interpret the fact that we reach out to them in peace as a sign of weakness and react by increasing terror [attacks]. It is time we face reality and remember what those sitting across from us in the negotiation room really want."
Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) urged the prime minister to suspend the peace talks. In a post on her Facebook page, she wrote: "The increase in terror activity by the Arabs in Judea and Samaria mandates that Israel cease the negotiations. Just like in other terror attacks, the incident in Psagot is a product of PA's incitement and of its two-faced policy. On the one hand, they say they want peace, and on the other hand they incite against Israel."
Hotovely stated that "nothing has changed since the days of [PA Chairman Yasser] Arafat. There is no partner for peace and there will never be one."
Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee member MK Yoni Chetboun (Habayit Hayehudi) said, "The events of the past month lead to only one conclusion -- terror is rearing its head again. Yesterday it was IDF soldiers, today it's a little girl. I demand the defense minister orders a military operation in the area to restore deterrence."
Knesset Finance Committee Chairman Nissan Slomiansky (Habayit Hayehudi) called the terrorist attack "further proof that pursuing negotiations with the PA from a position of weakness only results in more terror."
Transportation, National Infrastructure and Road Safety Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) told Israel Radio Sunday that the Psagot attack proved that the release of Palestinian prisoners was a mistake, adding that the government must find a different avenue for negotiations. He accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of "not lifting a finger" to stop the incitement against Israel.
"We must all pray for this little girl's recovery," Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett wrote in a Facebook post Saturday night. "This is a very serious event and another incident in a series of painful terror attacks."
Habayit Hayehudi MK Ayelet Shaked issued a statement saying: "While the negotiation teams share a glass of wine and discuss the next step in the peace process, reality is proving to be different. Up in the ivory tower there are wet dreams about peace while a 9-year-old girl is shot in her own backyard.
"The dream our neighbors foster is obviously different than the one promoted by the Obama administration," Shaked said. "It is time that we stop wasting time and come up with sensible plans, the first of which should be to stop releasing terrorists who have blood on their hands."
Binyamin Regional Council head Avi Roeh, who also serves as head of the Yesha Council -- the umbrella organization of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria -- urged Netanyahu to suspend the planned release of Palestinian prisoners.
"After a long period of quiet, terror is yet again rearing its head under the guise of diplomatic negotiations and the release of terrorists. Abu Mazen [Abbas] sends envoys to meet with [Justice] Minister Tzipi Linvi while the PA's incitement against Israel rages on and terrorists are dispatched from Ramallah to target a 9-year-old girl," he said.
"I call on the prime minister and the cabinet ministers to immediately halt the prisoners' release, to order the IDF to eradicate terror, and to pursue the appropriate response in the form of building [projects] across Israel."
A statement issued by the Almagor Terror Victims Association on Saturday night said: "Following the terror attack in Psagot, Almagor and the bereaved families demand that the prime minister and the cabinet immediately suspend the release of any more murderers as part of the negotiations [with the Palestinians] and that they reconsider the negotiations as a whole."
MK Orit Struck (Habayit Hayehudi) also commented on the attack, saying, "The Israeli public have been reminded that releasing terrorists only adds fuel to the terrorists' fire. I urge the government to make the responsible decision of suspending the release of any more terrorists."
Struck said that if the government does not do so, she will present the Knesset with a bill forcing the cabinet's hand on the matter, as soon as the legislature's winter session begins.
Mati Tuchfeld, Gideon Allon and Israel Hayom Staff Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=12387
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
IDF troops at the entrance to Psagot Saturday night |Photo credit: Lior Mizrahi |
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