Arson suspected since vehicle owner commanded Amona operation.
By YIGAL GRAYEFFfrance riots 298.88(photo credit: )
The deputy commander of Judea and Samaria Police, Lt.-Cmdr. Meir Bokovza, reacted calmly on Wednesday to the torching of his car in the early hours of the morning.
'It's not serious. What do you want me to say, that I should sit at home and begin to tremble?" said Bokovza, who led the operation to evacuate and demolish nine empty houses in the outpost of Amona two weeks ago.
"I don't know if there were threats, but you don't need to get too excited over these things," he said, adding that his family also felt fine.
A police spokeswoman said that before the incident Bokovza had been evaluated as needing police security, but she declined to disclose further details.
"At the moment we are redefining the level of security that he will receive," was all she said on the matter.
Because of a gag order on the investigation, the spokeswoman would also only confirm that Bokovza's car was burned and that of a neighbor was damaged. While she declined to say whether they police had any leads, Internal Security Minister Gidon Ezra had no hesitation in blaming the right wing.
"I don't want to go into detail but we don't have any doubt about the identity of these people, not their explicit identities, but that they have come from these (right wing) circles," he said.
"Those who speak in the name of a greater Israel, in the name of love for the land of Israel and love for the Torah, and carry out acts like these, are law breakers of the first degree," he said.
Ezra disclosed that the torching of Bokovza's car wasn't an isolated incident, saying that there had been threats against Judea and Samaria Police Chief Cmdr. Yisrael Yitzhak, OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh, a Border Police commander and a Cavalry Police commander. In addition, unknown attackers released dogs in the yard of an officer who participated in the Amona evacuation.
Ezra linked these threats and actions, and the Knesset's decision last week to set up a Commission of Inquiry into police behavior at Amona, when 250 people were injured in clashes that took place during the evacuation.
"The support in the Knesset for setting up the Commission of Inquiry contributed to these acts and the right-wing has given emotive backing to breaking the law," he said.
He pledged the police would do everything it could to catch the people responsible for the threats and violence and jail them.
Yesha Council spokeswoman Emily Amrusy declined to comment on the torching of Bokovza's car, saying, "We don't know who this was or what this was."
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