Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon visit Otniel. (Amos Ben Gershom, GPO)
Netanyahu said the truth about the origins of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict derived from Palestinian hatred. “This hatred has an address: it’s the incitement of the Palestinian Authority.”
During a visit to the Israeli settlement of Otniel in the West Bank, where Dafna Meir was slain on Sunday by a 16-year-old Palestinian intruder inside her home, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed “the incitement of the Palestinian Authority” — in whose jurisdiction the terrorist lives — for Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
“Whoever wants to see the truth about the roots of the conflict should go to Otniel and take a look at these incited youths who come to murder people,” said Netanyahu, according to Army Radio, adding, “This hatred has an address: it’s the incitement of the Palestinian Authority.”
Addressing the wave of terrorist attacks against Israelis, mostly in the Israeli settlements of Judea and Samaria but also in major Israeli cities, the Israeli Foreign Ministry released a report on Monday saying: “The current wave of terrorist attacks is part of the PA’s strategy of ‘popular resistance.’”
The report noted that since September 13, and as of January 17, there have been 108 stabbings, 37 shootings and 22 car-rammings, resulting in 29 dead (including a Palestinian and foreign worker who was mistakenly identified as a terrorist) and 289 wounded. Palestinian reports say dozens of Palestinians have been killed, including many of the alleged attackers, in clashes with Israeli security forces during the same period.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, meanwhile, said the current wave of terrorism “demands patience,” also according to Army Radio. “We know how to overcome it,” he added.
His comments echoed remarks by IDF Chief of General Staff Gadi Eizenkot at a security conference in Tel Aviv, whose outlook on violence against the Israeli settler community was pessimistic.
“The terrorism in the Judea and Samaria area has been going on for years, and one doesn’t have to be a great strategist to assume that it will continue for many more years,” he said.
By: The Algemeiner