Netanyahu lauds terror-stricken communities as cabinet set to okay Hebron, Kiryat Arba aid

The cabinet is due to approve a NIS 50 million to the two Jewish communities in the West Bank.

By HERB KEINON
Scene of terrorist attack in Kiryat Arba, June 30, 2016 (photo credit: ZAKA RESCUE AND RECOVERY ORGANIZATION)
Scene of terrorist attack in Kiryat Arba, June 30, 2016
(photo credit: ZAKA RESCUE AND RECOVERY ORGANIZATION)
The cabinet is expected to approve on Sunday a NIS 50 million assistance package to the Jewish communities in Hebron and Kiryat Arba, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said were “standing up heroically” against a “cruel terrorist front.”
Netanyahu said the money will come from the different government ministries whom he said mobilized to help the communities.
Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel told reporters before the meeting that the decision was a recognition that a “Zionist response” is part of the struggle against terrorism.
With that, he said, there is a need to fight terrorism “with a much stronger hand.“ He said that Saturday night's attack near Tekoa was an indication of an escalation in the violence, and that this will call for “other means” to deal with it.
Ariel also termed insufficient the recent security cabinet decision to subtract the sum the Palestinian Authority pays to terrorists in prison and the family of terrorists each month from the money Israel transfers to the PA.
Israel's steps need to much more significant, he said, adding that the PA owes NIS 1.25 billion to the Israel Electric company and Israeli hospitals. “Israeli citizens will not fund terror,” he said