Settlers: Close West Bank roads to Palestinians after terror attacks

Settler march intentionally went along a stretch of road where many attacks have occurred in the last five months, says Gush Etzion Regional Council head.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: MARCH 16, 2016 00:39
Settlers march along Route 60 from the Karmei Zur settlement to the Gush Etzion junction (photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
Settlers march along Route 60 from the Karmei Zur settlement to the Gush Etzion junction
(photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
The government must close West Bank roads to Palestinians after terrorist attacks, settlers said on Tuesday as they marched along Route 60 for two hours from the Karmei Tzur settlement to the Gush Etzion junction.
If this measure was briefly instituted in areas where attacks occur or where terrorists lived, it would help further deter future violence, the settlers said.
“We must stop Palestinians from traveling on the road,” Kiryat Arba Council head Malachi Levinger said as he stood holding an Israeli flag at the rally’s end.
Three soldiers were injured in two separate attacks at the entrance to Kiryat Arba on Monday.
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Davidi Perl, who also held a flag as he spoke, said, “We’ve had enough!” The march intentionally ran along a stretch of road where many attacks have occurred in the last five months, Perl said.
As he spoke, he stood a short distance away from the location where US teenager Ezra Schwartz, 18, Capt. (res.) Eliav Gelman, 30 and Hadar Buchris, 21, were killed in past attacks.
“Enough of our blood has been spilled. Jewish blood is not worthless,” Perl said.
The marchers are insisting that the government use the many tools at its disposal to stop the violence, Perl said.
South Hebron Hills Regional Council head Yochai Damri said they had marched along the biblical route that their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had taken from Beersheba to Jerusalem.
“It connects us to our roots,” he said.
Jewish residents of the area have been the target of an unprecedented level of attacks, Damri said. The same government that knew how to enter Gaza and Lebanon must now act to protect the citizens of Judea and Samaria, he added.
These might be lone wolf attacks, he said, but they are supported by the communities in which the terrorists live.
“Our blood is not worth less than any other citizen in Israel,” Damri said.