WarSclerotic

A sobering moment for complacent Israel | The Times of Israel.

If we are to heal this nation, the killing of Muhammed Abu Khdeir must rid us of the illusion that we enjoy a distinctive moral superiority over our neighbors

By David Horovitz July 7, 2014, 1:40 pm

16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager whose burned body was found Wednesday, July 2 in the Jerusalem Forest (photo credit: AFP via family handout)

So, is this more shattering for Israel than the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, when an arrogant psychopath decided, in a context that provided him with no little encouragement, that God required him to murder Israel’s prime minister in order to prevent the relinquishing of divinely promised land to the loathed Palestinians?

Is this more devastating than the mass murder carried out by Baruch Goldstein, the doctor who gunned down 29 Palestinians at prayer in Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs?

Terrible, unthinkable crimes, those — killings that stained us all; that changed our history in this land; that pushed our fragile democracy to the brink of the abyss; that resonate, still, two decades later.

And yet, the brutal murder of 16-year-old Jerusalemite Muhammad Abu Khdeir, allegedly by a gang of Jewish extremists, shames us and stains us no less, and raises fresh and appalling questions about our country and its course.

If we are to heal this nation, last Wednesday’s killing must rid us, once and for all, of the complacent illusion that we enjoy a distinctive moral superiority over our neighbors. If that was ever the case, it cannot be claimed by a people that can produce a gang of thugs capable of grabbing a random teenager and burning him to death for the “crime” of being an accessible Arab kid on the day after three Jewish terror victims were laid to rest. We Israelis knew we had nothing in common with those Hamas killers who so callously ended the lives of three innocent Israeli teenagers; we were wrong.

We need to internalize, too, that while we rightly protest the constant incitement against Israel that is tolerated, often encouraged, by the Palestinian leadership, our own house is not in order. It’s heartening to hear politicians and rabbis reaching deep into their lexicons for words of condemnation, but they ring a little hollow against the background of hostility to Arabs displayed so routinely by so many policy-makers and opinion shapers. I have often highlighted the toxic environment in the West Bank that could make a killer of the 16-year-old Palestinian who murdered 18-year-old soldier Eden Atias as he slept on a bus in Afula last November. What, then, can we say of the Israeli environment in which a gang of youngsters can arise capable of burning to death a Palestinian teenager, having allegedly tried to grab a nine-year-old Palestinian boy the day before?

They started it? They’re worse? They all hate us? Well maybe they did, and maybe they are, and maybe they do. But those arguments don’t help us. Those are not arguments that are going to save our society.

We need to face up to the fact that our ongoing rule over the Palestinians, apart from endangering Israel as a Jewish democracy, is corroding us, blackening our hearts. We cannot impose peace deals upon neighbors who oppose the compromises essential to our secure existence, but we have to do more to try to create an environment in which progress can be made — an enlightened environment, that is, on both sides of the divide. All too plainly, we are being affected by living in a region where indifference to the divine gift of life is widespread. If the Jewish state, the homeland of the Jewish nation, does not thoroughly emblemize a reverence for life, we have no particular right to be here at all.

We are being dragged down, and the footage of Border Police thugs apparently beating Abu Khdeir’s cousin underlines the depths to which we risk sinking. Maybe Tariq Abu Khdeir had been involved in violent demonstrations against Israeli forces, though he denies it. Maybe he resisted arrest, and was carrying a slingshot, as the police have claimed. And maybe the video footage of his beating was tendentiously edited. But that footage seemed to show a suspect who posed no threat being pummeled and kicked mercilessly by uniformed Israeli forces. The authorities would be better off not attempting excuses, and tackling the untenable culture in their ranks.

We can try to comfort ourselves by claiming that our thugs and killers are aberrations, reviled by the mainstream, while their thugs and killers are widely exalted heroes. But our aberrations are multiplying — our killers and our thugs, our Jewish terror groups and our uniformed assailants. And unlike the Palestinians, we cannot claim the “occupation” in our defense — for we are masters of our own destiny, and we must urgently reassert our higher values.

Fire in Gaza, as Israel grapples with homegrown killers | The Times of Israel.

21:35

Ch 2 reporting that Israel is following a “graduated response” policy.  Tonight a bit more.  Tomorrow again.

( This is not MY Israel ! – JW )

2115

IAF attacking Gaza as rocket volleys continue.  Over a hundred so far tonight.

20:30

20+ Rocket volleys fired from Gaza over the last hour

IDF patrol comes under anti-tank fire along Gaza border | The Times of Israel.

No injuries reported; soldier lightly wounded in rocket attack after nine Hamas, Islamic Jihad members killed in airstrikes

IDF APC’s (Armed Personnel Carrier) are led on trucks through a field, near the Gaza border in Southern Israel, on July 6, 2014. (photo credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Palestinians fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF unit Monday morning as it patrolled along the border with the Gaza Strip, the army said. The soldiers also came under small arms fire. There were no injuries, and soldiers returned fire.

“An IDF patrol was attacked along the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip,” the army said in a statement. “Initial indications suggest they were attacked with an RPG anti-tank missile and firearm[s]. No injuries are currently reported.”

The attack came amid a sharp escalation in violence in the south in recent days.

Earlier Monday, an IDF soldier was lightly wounded by shrapnel in his legs and back when Gaza Palestinians fired two rockets at the Eshkol region. The soldier was taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba for medical treatment. Vehicles close to the impact site were damaged.

Nine members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad were killed overnight Sunday, according to Palestinian sources, when Israeli jets struck 14 sites in Gaza Strip, after a day of near-constant rocket fire on Israeli towns near the Palestinian enclave.

The targets were “terror sites and concealed rocket launchers,” the IDF spokesman’s office said, confirming direct hits on the targets.

Seven Hamas members were killed and six wounded in an air force strike, according to a statement released by the terror group. Israeli defense officials, however, said that the men were not killed in an airstrike but were rather crushed when a tunnel collapsed on top of them.

Earlier, two members of Islamic Jihad’s armed wing were reported killed when Israeli planes struck the refugee camp of al Bureij in the central Strip, targeting a rocket launching crew.

Some 25 rockets were fired at Israel over the course of Sunday, most of which landed in open areas.

Lazar Berman contributed to this report.

DEBKAfile: Hamas flatly spurns a ceasefire. Israeli air strikes kill 7 of its operatives in Gaza.

IDF Gen. Sami Torgeman, OC Southern Command

There is not the slightest chance of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas halting its three-week barrage of rockets against Israel in the foreseeable future,  high-placed sources in Cairo, Washington and the IDF told debkafile’s military sources Sunday night, July 6. They all agreed that Israeli-Gaza border tensions would continue to escalate in the absence of serious Israeli military punishment for cutting Hamas down
Following this assessment, the Israeli Air Force went into its first serious action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip during Sunday night – not just bombing empty buildings, but hitting Hamas operatives. Seven were killed in Rafah and another two in Al Bureij.

The Hamas spokesman said that this was the biggest single Israeli hit against the Islamist group since the 2012 Pillar of Defense operation and “The enemy would pay dearly.”

A senior US intelligence official familiar with the sector offered the view that, so long as Israel did not show it was serious about a military reprisal – like for instance positioning two whole IDF armored divisions right up to the Gaza border – Hamas would not feel pressured enough to stop firing rockets and accept a truce. Every passing day without real punishment for kidnapping and murdering the Israeli teenagers, Gil-Ad Shear, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, leaves the Islamists certain they have got away with it and in no mood to talk terms.

The source reported that, as far as he knew, Cairo had given up on its earlier effort at brokering a Gaza ceasefire. Cairo sources confirmed that Hamas had made unacceptable demands of the Egyptian government as its price for halting rocket attacks on Israel. The list was presented to Gen. Mohammed Farid el-Tohamy, head of Egyptian intelligence, who had been acting as the intermediary between Hamas and Israel in the truce effort.
One of those demands was for Egypt to reverse its six-month crackdown for reducing Hamas’ aggressive capabilities for terror in and from Sinai, including the reopening of the smuggling tunnels Sinai which long furnished the Hamas regime with arms, smuggled goods and revenue.

Cairo lashed out against Hamas as a terrorist group harmful to Egyptian security and a helpful offshoot of the proscribed Muslim Brotherhood.

There is no sign that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has any intention of meeting Hamas demands.

Indeed, all the parties following the conflict agree that the ball is now in Israel’s court and not, as it is presented by Israeli officials, up to Hamas to take the initiative. The Islamist group has already made its decision, which is to continue shooting rockets, in line with its unswerving commitment to fight Israel.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz must decide if and how to fight back.

Contrary to Israeli media reports, the chief of staff and the high IDF command have clearly informed the government that they are fully prepared to undertake any military operation without delay if so ordered. The elimination of seven Hamas members of its fighting army Sunday night may be the first step.

Hamas says IAF airstrike kills 7 militants in Gaza | JPost | Israel News.

By REUTERS, YAAKOV LAPPIN

LAST UPDATED: 07/07/2014 06:45

IAF strikes in Gaza following 25 rockets throughout day; Hamas says Israel “will pay” for escalation; mortar shell lands in Golan Heights from Syria, IDF retaliates with gunfire.

Israel launched a series of air strikes on Gaza early on Monday to quell Hamas rocket fire, and the Islamist group’s armed wing said seven of its gunmen were killed, making it the deadliest day for Hamas since a 2012 cross-border war with the Jewish state.

The IDF confirmed the strikes, saying they “responded to rocket attacks against southern Israel,” targeting 9 “terror” sites and concealed rocket launchers. They said the attacks had made “direct hits.”

Hamas said most of the strikes were launched at a gathering point for its members in Gaza’s southern-most town of Rafah, at the Egyptian border. Another strike was launched in northern Gaza, it said.

Seven Hamas fighters were killed and four people were wounded in the attacks, the group’s armed wing said in a statement.

Later on in the morning, but still before sunrise, the IAF attacked five more terror sites inside the strip.

Hamas spokeman Sami Abu Zuhri accused Israel of committing a “grave escalation” in violence and threatened to retaliate, saying Israel would “pay the price.”

Also overnight, adding to tensions, a mortar shell was launched into the Golan Heights from Syria and the IDF retaliated by shooting at targets across the border.

A barrage of rocket fire hit southern Israel on Sunday amid calls from within Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition for a wide-scale mission in the Gaza Strip.

The Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council area was battered with ten rockets from Gaza. Residents of the communities in the Sha’ar Hanegev area were instructed to remain in fortified shelters.

Seven rockets hit the Eshkol Regional Council area , one of which started a brush fire, and an additional two rockets landed in open territory in the Ashkelon Coast Council region.

At least 150 rockets have landed in Israeli territory since June 14 when the West Bank operation to find three Israeli teens kidnapped and murdered by Hamas commenced , the IDF said Sunday.

While Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman have called for a wide-scale operation in Gaza, Israel has thus far limited its response to air strikes on select terror targets.

Netanyahu said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting that Israel must act “with composure and responsibly,” and not with “militancy or rashness.”

Israeli warplanes struck rocket-launching targets in the Gaza Strip before dawn on Sunday, the army announced.

According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, IAF aircraft hit 10 targets in central and southern Gaza.

Palestinians in Gaza fired Grad rockets at Beersheba and Ashkelon on Saturday evening, escalating their ongoing attacks on the South.

Iron Dome anti-rocket batteries intercepted one rocket over Beersheba for the first time since Israel clashed with Hamas in November 2012, and soon afterward, three more rockets were intercepted over Ashkelon. Several additional rockets hit open areas in the Sha’ar Hanegev and Ashkelon regions.

On Saturday evening, the Israel Air Force struck in Gaza, targeting a terrorist who was about to fire a rocket, the military said. The terrorist had fired rockets at Ofakim in recent days, the IDF added.

Palestinian rocket and mortar fire continued to target southern communities throughout the weekend, with some 30 projectiles striking areas close to the Gaza border on Friday and Saturday.

A soldier was wounded by shrapnel from a projectile in the Eshkol region on Saturday.

Paramedics evacuated him to the hospital.

Earlier in the day, the Iron Dome system intercepted a projectile over the town of Ofakim.

The regions of Sdot Negev and Eshkol came under regular projectile fire throughout the day. The air force struck three Hamas targets in southern Gaza.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz visited the northern Gaza border region on Saturday and met with military forces operating in the sector. Gantz spoke with infantry and tank unit commanders and examined preparations under way for a possible escalation.

Gantz was accompanied by OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Sami Turgeman, as well as the commanders of the Planning Branch and C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence) Branch.

Gantz said Hamas bears responsibility for rocket firea, and the IDF is prepared to provide any necessary response to ensure residents of the South can lead routine lives.

“We’ll know how to respond with great force if quiet isn’t returned to the area,” he said.

Slain Israeli teen’s uncle consoles murdered Palestinian’s father | The Times of Israel.

Yishai Fraenkel calls Hussein Abu Khdeir to offer condolences; two Palestinians pay visit to Fraenkel home

By Times of Israel staff July 6, 2014, 10:40 pm

Rachelle Fraenkel crying over the body of her son Naftali at his funeral Tuesday. (photo credit: Flash90)

The uncle of the slain Israeli teenager Naftali Fraenkel offered his condolences Sunday in a phone call to Hussein Abu Khdeir, whose 16-year-old son was murdered last week in what police believe was a revenge killing by Jewish extremists.

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Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said he too spoke to Abu Khdeir and, on behalf of the residents of Jerusalem, condemned the killing of his son Mohammed.

The call came hours after two Palestinians from the Hebron area paid a visit to the grieving Fraenkel family.

“We expressed our deep empathy with their sorrow, from one bereaved family to another bereaved family,” Yishai Fraenkel said, according to the Ynet news website. “I think it’s very good they seem to have found the culprits. We expressed our absolute disgust with what had happened. He accepted our statements, it was important for him to hear it.”

Fraenkel added that “there is no difference between those who murdered Muhammed, and those who murdered our children. Those are murderers, and these are murderers. And both must be dealt with to the full extent of the law, and we told him that.”
16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager whose body was found Wednesday, July 2 in Jerusalem’s forest area (photo credit: AFP via family handout)

16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager whose body was found Wednesday, July 2 in Jerusalem’s forest area (photo credit: AFP via family handout)

Earlier Sunday, two Palestinians from the Gush Etzion area, accompanied by the head of the Gush Etzion religious council, Rabbi Rafi Ostroff, arrived at the Fraenkel’s Nof Ayalon residence where the family is in the midst of the traditional seven-day mourning period.

One of the visitors told the Hebrew NRG website that Fraenkel’s statements last week after Abu Khdeir’s murder “touched a large portion of the Palestinian people.”

“I come from a bereaved family, I lost my brother and I have family that were former prisoners, unfortunately we also threw stones at you. What can you do?” he said.

In a statement last week, the Fraenkels condemned the murder of Abu Khdeir, saying in a statement that “There is no difference when it comes to blood. Murder is murder; there is no justification, forgiveness or atonement for any murder.”

“The moment we learn to deal with each other’s pain and stop the anger against one another, the situation will be better,” the visitor said. “Our mission is to strengthen the family and also to take a step forward towards the liberation of my people. We believe that only through the hearts of the Jews will our liberation happen.”

He described the warm welcome the Fraenkels gave him, and said: “We are sorry for any harm against people, whether Jewish or Muslim. We don’t want anyone to be hurt, and want to reach a political agreement.”

The two Palestinians also described an upcoming initiative called the “Hunger Strike Against Violence,” next Tuesday, on which the Jewish fast of the 17 of Tammuz coincides with the ongoing Muslim Ramadan holiday.

“Palestinians that I knew wanted to come visit and console the families, so I brought them,” Ostroff said. “The family welcomed them in a remarkable way. They didn’t even think twice to let them in; it was obvious to them that it was okay.”
Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, the three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped on June 12 and whose bodies were found on June 30. (photo credit: IDF/AP)

Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, the three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped on June 12 and whose bodies were found on June 30. (photo credit: IDF/AP)

Naftali Fraenkel, 16, Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Gil-ad Shaar, 16, were abducted and killed by Hamas-linked terrorists on June 12 in the West Bank. Their bodies were uncovered in Halhul, near Hebron, last week after an 18-day search. Israel believes Hamas members Marwan Kawasme and Amer Abu Aysha, both from Hebron, are responsible, but the terror group denied its involvement and the two have yet to be apprehended.

Hours after the three were laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon, 16-year-old East Jerusalem resident Muhammed Abu Khdeir was snatched and, according to Palestinian sources, burnt to death. His charred body was found in the Jerusalem Forest Wednesday morning.

Police arrested six Jewish suspects Sunday, a number of them minors, in connection with the case. According to Hebrew media reports, one of the suspects confessed to the crime, implicating a number of others

Bibi, Take Back The Weapons!

By David Rubin7/6/2014, 1:07 PM

via Blog: David Rubin, Bibi, Take Back The Weapons! – Arutz Sheva.

Deputy Education Minister: Restraint is a Scandal

Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman calls for an end to Israel’s restraint in the wake of the endless rocket fire from Gaza.

By Shimon Cohen and Elad BenariFirst Publish: 7/7/2014, 1:13 AM

via Deputy Education Minister: Restraint is a Scandal – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman (Jewish Home) said on Sunday that he agreed with comments by Be’er Sheva Mayor Rubik Danilovich, who criticized the conduct of the government over its weak response to the rocket fire from Gaza.

Danilovich had said earlier on Sunday that the government would have responded with much more force had the rocket fire targeted Tel Aviv.

“I totally agree,” Wortzman, himself a resident of Be’er Sheva, told Arutz Sheva. “One million citizens have become hostages of Hamas and the government responds weakly. What is happening here is unacceptable. Hamas must understand that it will not pay off for it to continue firing rockets.”

“The role of the state is to protect its citizens and at the moment it is doing so feebly,” he continued. “People are not willing to accept this reality. Our children’s routines are interrupted, they live in fear. Children are not our soldiers.”

“They say that restraint is discretion. That’s not true,” said Wortzman. “Restraint is a scandal and a disregard for citizens. It’s that simple.”

He called for a serious military campaign on Gaza, adding, “A policy of targeted killings is required. It’s unthinkable that Hamas leaders will go on with their regular routines, Gaza families will go on with their regular routines, while children in Sderot, Be’er Sheva, Ashkelon and Eshkol will live in fortified rooms. A sovereign state cannot abandon its people. ”

Asked if he agreed with Danilovich’s remarks that the government’s response would be much harsher if rockets were fired on Tel Aviv, Worzman replied, “Unfortunately I have to agree with him. I feel the rocket fire on the south is not shocking enough and not rushing the cabinet into immediate action. I turn to my friends in the Likud and ask, ‘Where are you? Where is the Prime Minister?’ It’s his responsibility. Millions of people are suffering here.”

The Home Front Command and IDF announced earlier Sunday that a total of 110 rockets have hit Israel over the past five days, bringing the total this month to 135.

Of those, 21 were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

Several ministers and MKs have called for Israel to retake or attack Gaza and institute a “zero tolerance” policy against terrorism over the weekend.

No place in Israel for Abu Khdeir’s killers, Netanyahu says

While condemning racist ‘mentality’ that led to Muhammed Abu Khdeir’s killing, PM charges that ‘on the other side, city squares are named in honor of such murderers’

By Haviv Rettig Gur July 6, 2014, 9:23 pm

via No place in Israel for Abu Khdeir’s killers, Netanyahu says | The Times of Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned on Sunday evening the kidnapping-murder of 16-year-old Muhammed Abu Khdeir, saying that Israeli society had no place for the Jewish extremists suspected to be behind the slaying.

Speaking to the media outside the home of the parents of Naftali Fraenkel, one of three Jewish teens murdered by Hamas-affiliated Palestinians last month, Netanyahu vowed the full brunt of the law would be brought to bear against Abu Khdeir’s murderers, while criticizing Palestinian society for honoring terrorists on their side.

“Such murderers have no place in Israeli society,” he said of Abu Khdeir’s killers, who are thought to have acted to avenge the kidnapping and killing of Fraenkel, Gil-ad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach.

“I promise you that we will bring the full force of the law to bear against the perpetrators of this horrific crime, which deserves every sort of condemnation and rejection,” he said.

Netanyahu went on to say, however, “This is a difference between us and our neighbors. There, murderers are received as heroes, and city squares are named in their honor. That isn’t the only difference between us. The inciters among us we put on trial, while incitement in the Palestinian Authority takes place in official media outlets, in the education system, incitement centered on the call to destroy the state of Israel.”

Earlier in the day, six Jewish extremists were arrested in connection with last week’s killing of Abu Khdeir, which set off days of rioting in Jerusalem and northern Israel.

Netanyahu sent his condolences to the Abu Khdeir family and also condemned the outburst of online racist comments by Jews in the wake of the June 30 discovery of the bodies of the three Jewish teens.

“We don’t distinguish between [Palestinian] terror and [Jewish] terror, and will deal severely with both. I don’t distinguish between incitement and incitement in the state of Israel. Just as I condemn with all my strength cries of ‘death to the Jews,’ I condemn cries of ‘death to the Arabs.’ When I heard about the Israeli student, who after the murder [of the Jewish teens] wrote on the Internet, ‘3-0 to the Palestinians, and we’re not even in the World Cup,’ I was shaken by the evil [in the statement].

“It is this same evil, the same mentality, which led to the murder of the youth from Shuafat [Abu Khdeir],” Netanyahu said. “We won’t let the extremists, no matter what side they’re from, ignite the region and lead to bloodshed. We cannot accept and we will oppose ‘price tag’ attacks [by Jewish extremists], and we oppose equally firebombs and stones and barricading roads [on the part of Israeli Arabs and East Jerusalem Palestinians]. We will act with all the means at our disposal to enforce the law.”

While he condemned the apparent racist motive behind Abu Khdeir’s brutal murder – forensic evidence indicates Abu Khdeir was likely burned alive by his killers – Netanyahu also demanded that the Palestinian Authority act swiftly to help locate the suspects in the murder of the Jewish teens – as Israel did with Abu Khdeir’s alleged killers.

“We know well who is responsible for the murder of Gil-ad, Naftali and Eyal, and we will get to them. The murderers left territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority, and returned there. Therefore it is the Authority’s responsibility to do everything to locate them, just like we’ve done, just as Israel’s security forces discovered in a few short days the murderers of the youth Muhammed Abu Khdeir.”
‘Shocking and unacceptable’

Several ministers also condemned the kidnapping-murder by Jewish extremists following the announcement Sunday of the arrest of the suspected perpetrators.

“This was a shocking and unacceptable act which any sane person, certainly in a strong and democratic country such as the State of Israel, must strongly condemn,” Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said in a statement.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid said on Sunday that Israelis “must all feel ashamed over the facts being uncovered in the case of the murdered Arab youth. The state of Israel can’t continue with business as usual in the face of the horrifying murder of an innocent Arab youth by Jewish murderers. There is no difference between [Jewish] blood and [Arab] blood.”

Lapid called on law enforcement agencies to “deal decisively and aggressively with the murderers,” and on Israelis “to work to eradicate the extremism in our midst.”

Naftali Bennett, from the nationalist Jewish Home party, called the killing “terrible, immoral and anti-Jewish.” He added that the killers should be prosecuted as terrorists.

Condemning the foul murder, Eitan Cabel, chair of the opposition Labor party’s Knesset faction declared that, “If this does not become a foundational turning point [to change Israel for the better], we might as well close down the country.”

In his Sunday statement, Netanyahu called “on all sides to act responsibly, not to carry out any rash actions.”

He commended “the speed with which [Israeli security services] solved the murder of Muhammed Abu Khdeir.”

And he praised the arrest of a suspect in the murder of Afula resident Shelley Dadon in May. “The suspect is a resident of I’billin in the Galilee. With him, too, we will deal severely, to the full extent of the law.”

“The strength of the state of Israel depends on its being a law-abiding state, and anyone who breaks the law will encounter a decisive response. Murder is murder. Incitement is incitement. And we will respond to both aggressively,” he vowed.

“It is important at this moment to unite, to behave according to our values as a Jewish and democratic state. Together we will defeat every effort to undermine the quiet and security of all Israel’s citizens,” he concluded.