MKs spar over settler violence

MK Ophir Paz-Pines says "situation between settlers and IDF could deteriorate into 'anarchy'."

By ABE SELIG
If left unchecked, the situation in the territories between settlers and the IDF could deteriorate into "anarchy," warned Internal Affairs Committee Chairman MK Ophir Paz-Pines at a committee meeting on Monday. Referring to the weekend violence in northern Samaria that followed a Palestinian intruder stabbing a youth in the Yitzhar settlement, Paz-Pines compared the area to the Wild West. An angry mob from Yitzhar entered a nearby Palestinian village after the stabbing on Saturday, shooting in the air and damaging property. Six Palestinians were wounded and no arrests have been made in the case. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i called the events "unacceptable," and said that if an emergency assessment was not made to prevent such occurrences, the situation could spiral out of control. "There has been a dramatic increase in riots in the territories against Palestinians and IDF soldiers," Vilna'i said. "In a year's time, we won't know what to do with ourselves." Vilna'i also said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak had asked Judea and Samaria police to step up their activities in the area, and make sure that the rule of law extends to all offenders, regardless of who they are. Echoing those sentiments, Paz-Pines said, "We want to see order return to the territories." Meretz MK Yossi Beilin said that a group of Jewish extremists in the area didn't heed any leadership and acted as if they owned the land. "They do whatever they want," Beilin said. "Nobody knows what to do with them, including the government." Israel Beiteinu MK David Rotem countered Beilin's remarks, mentioning the weekly riots in Bil'in against the construction of the security barrier, in which Palestinians along with international and Israeli left-wing activists often resort to violence against soldiers in the area. "The soldiers do nothing to defend themselves," Rotem said. "While the response to the settlers in Yitzhar was like the army's response to terrorists." Police representatives at the meeting said that the rise in settler violence was troubling, and that 90 percent of the cases of rioting in the West Bank involved right wing activists. "The police have noticed a worrisome trend in the disruption of the rule of law in the area," said Itzik Rahamim, commander of the Judea and Samaria Police Investigation Unit. Rahamim said there had been an 11 percent increase in cases of rioting in the area since the beginning of the year, and that while 36 cases were against left-wing activists, the rest were against rightists.