Barak: 'Price tag' attackers operate almost like terrorists
By JPOST.COM STAFF
LAST UPDATED: 10/11/2011 14:20
Defense minister says settler attacks "humiliate the state," harm Israel's world standing; praises settler leaders for condemning attacks.
![Defense Minister Ehud Barak [file photo]](../HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=175864 "Defense Minister Ehud Barak [file photo]")
Defense Minister Ehud Barak [file photo] Photo: Linoy Elihai / Defense Ministry
Defense
Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday that groups of settlers carrying out
self-defined "price tag" attacks against Palestinians "operate almost
like terrorist organizations."
The attacks, carried out against Palestinians and
private property, "embarrass the State of Israel," he said during a military tour. Barak also praised the
West Bank settlement leadership for condemning the acts.
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Last week a mosque in the northern town of Tuba Zanghariya mosque was burned, causing significant damage. The attackers left the words "price tag" scrawled on nearby walls.
"These
are events that need to be fought against. They humiliate the State of
Israel and harm its strength and the legitimacy of all settlement within
it," Barak said. The attacks also harm "Israel's standing and normal
relations with our neighbors, the Palestinians."
President Shimon Peres said of the Tuba Zanghariya arson attack: "It
brings great shame upon us. It is a terrible thing that I condemn in the
strongest possible terms."
Police last week stepped up security around mosques and Islamic symbols
around the country to prevent further "price tag" incidents and
disturbances, following the vandalizing and arson of a mosque in the
Galilee village of Tuba Zanghariya.
Police Insp.-Gen. Yochanan Danino ordered all police districts, as well
as the police's Operations Branch, to go on alert in areas with Muslim
communities.
Last month, police announced the formation of a special task force to
track down and arrest far-right extremists who were behind price tag
incidents in the West Bank.