Bennett after commander shoots stone-thrower: Stones kill, just ask Adele Biton

Shaked announced last month that she would be aggressively pushing forward with legislation to increase the penalties for persons throwing rocks.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: JULY 3, 2015 14:57
Naftali Bennett (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Naftali Bennett
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Responding to the Friday incident in which an IDF commander opened fire and killed a Palestinian who threw stones at his vehicle, Education Minister Naftali Bennett said he backed the commander's decision completely.
"If someone seeks to kill you, rise up and kill him," Bennett wrote on twitter, in a quote from Jewish sources.
"I back completely the Binyamin Brigade Commander who acted against a terrorist in order to defend his soldiers," Bennett wrote. 
"Stones kill, just ask Adele Biton," Bennett added, referring to the toddler who was seriously injured in a stone-throwing terror attack in the West Bank in 2013.
Biton died of pneumonia in February, and at the time her mother claimed that the severity of the illness was a direct result of the wounds she suffered in the terrorist attack.  
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid also expressed his support for the IDF commander.
"Stones kill, and IDF soldiers need to be able to defend themselves and know that their political leaders will back them up completely," Lapid said at a conference in Kfar Saba.
Lapid called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon to express their support as well.
Last month, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked announced  that she would be aggressively pushing forward with legislation to increase the penalties for persons throwing stones. 
If passed by the Knesset, the bill would increase the maximum penalty for people who throw stones at vehicles to 10 or 20 years in prison, depending on the circumstances, and increase the chances of conviction. 
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.