Families of terrorists must be expelled, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz declared, also stressing the importance of strengthening the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz spoke at the 13th annual Jerusalem Conference on Monday about the implementation of harsher deterrence measures against the violence and terrorism which has swept across Israel since September, claiming the lives of dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds.

While Katz said that the policy of the demolition of the homes of terrorists’ families is a step in the right direction, he added that it is not enough on its own and that new legal measures should be taken that would be unimpeded by the Israeli legal system.

“Both the family and the social circle of a young terrorist are responsible for terror. We have to create a situation in which that family is expelled and we should be deliberating as to whether to send them to Syria or to Gaza, but the policy of deportation itself should not be a question,” Katz told conference attendees.

Katz went on to promote building new communities in Judea and Samaria and increasing the size of the populations of existing communities.

“We will be truly victorious when we build another road, another community. Every new resident in a community is a victory for us. When we are sent a report every six months informing us of the increase in the number of residents in communities in Judea and Samaria, that is our real victory,” he said.

“We are doing all that we can to connect the entire Land of Israel through a network of roads and railways. We are doing what the Americans did 100 and 200 years ago,” he continued.

The Jerusalem Conference, organized annually by Arutz Sheva, tackles political, economic, social and religious issues in Israel.

By: Alexander J. Apfel/TPS

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