Israel to defend its Military from Israelis

Coddling violent fanatics who attack and steal from Palestinians might just backfire on the Right wing Likud government. What? It already has?

I wonder if there is a connection??

The USG Open Source Center translates reaction from the Israeli press:

“Israeli Media Urge ‘Harsh’ Punitive Steps Against Jewish Right-Wing ‘Criminals’
Israel — OSC Summary
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Document Type: OSC Summary …

Israeli media commentators on 14 December write extensively about the attacks launched by right-wing Jewish extremists in the last few days against IDF personnel, Palestinian villages, mosques and churches. All comments are unanimous in condemning the rioters and calling for harsh punitive action against them. Most commentators also criticize the Israeli Government for taking a soft stand against settler violence, with a few going so far as to charge Prime Minister Netanyahu with indirect responsibility for the recent developments. Commentator Says ‘Fanatic’ Right-Wing Jews ‘Greatest Threat’ to W. Bank Calm
December)

… Columnist Sees Link Between Activists’ Behavior, Discriminatory Right-Wing Bills

Influential columnist Nahum Barne’a writes in a 500-word page 3 commentary in Yedio’t Aharonot entitled “A Handful? Don’t Make Me Laugh” that “there is no word more shameful in the Israeli lexicon of violence than the word handful. The potential of a terror group should be measured not based on the number of its registered activists, but on the depth of the periphery that gives them backing and shelter. This rule holds true for both Arabs and Jews. Those who believe that the problem will be solved by means of a few restraining orders for the known activists, by means of a package of indictments against girls who are not allowed to sing but who are allowed to riot, are like those who try to get rid of crabgrass from the surface. This criminal behavior must be rooted out, and everyone knows where the roots are: They are found in the incitement of the settler rabbis, in the Israeli governments that over and over again approved the settlers’ illegal acts, in the leniency of the judges and the powerlessness of the GSS, of the IDF and of the police.
“The right wing in the Knesset cannot roll its eyes and say our hands did not spill this blood. Those who push for a muezzin law, which discriminates between worshippers because of religious background, should not be surprised if young people in the settlements burn mosques. There is no moral difference between the two.”

Barne’a concludes: “Until Israeli society carries out a true soul-search about what takes place beyond the Green Line, there is no chance that it will exterminate the current criminal activity.” (Tel Aviv Yedi’ot Aharonot in Hebrew — Independent, centrist, second-largest circulation daily)

Defense Correspondent Slams Netanyahu’s ‘Hypocrisy,” Says Shin Bet’s Failure ‘Unbelievable’ A 500-word page-4 commentary by defense correspondent Alex Fishman entitled “Knew and Were Silent” in the same edition of Yedi’ot Aharonot says: “What a show of hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness was staged for us yesterday by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Suddenly he discovered that gangs of law-breaking young people – -including minors — were terrorizing not only the Palestinian population but also the police and the army. Suddenly he realized that these terrorists were being supervised by fundamentalist religious leaders who did not recognize the State of Israel and its laws. For years they have been permitting themselves to run rampant uninterrupted, to beat and humiliate soldiers, to sabotage state interests, to disrupt legally-made decisions– and only now did he find out. Heaven preserve us.

“And here is where the show begins: The prime minister conducts an emergency discussion, summons the GSS director, the police commissioner, the chief of staff and the defense minister and demands that they activate the law enforcement agencies quickly. He wants an emergency plan. The fact that he and his ilk in Israel’s governments and Knessets have given these people ideological backing — either tacitly or openly — and castrated the operational branch to the point of paralysis, that is something he has forgotten.

“The sophisticated production staged by Netanyahu’s bureau creates the impression that events of a new and surprising kind are taking place in the West Bank, which requires dramatic measures to block the ‘escalation.’ What a huge bluff: Nothing is new. The group of rioters that crossed the fence for Qasr al-Yahud did not operate secretly. They summoned journalists in advance. There was no need to plant GSS agents in their midst in order to understand what they were plotting.

“Let there be no doubt: The security agencies were aware of the planned provocation. All they had to do was place a roadblock on the route and send these people home with a swift kick. Why didn’t the army and the police do so? It is quite possible that they understood that nothing would come of this in any case. No one would be punished. It would be a waste of energy: They would only suffer blows, curses and spitting, and in the end they would yet be accused of harassing minors and infringing upon the modesty of modest teenage girls.”

Fishman sums up: “It is no secret that the Samaria and Judea District Police are not effective enough against the Jewish sector in the West Bank. The army tries to keep a low profile, and the legal system is forgiving because not enough evidence is brought before it. The result: Four torching of mosques were recorded in 2011, along with dozens of other violent acts, and none of these generated even a single indictment. So 14 restraining orders were issued against a few highly disturbed individuals. A drop in the ocean. But the fact that over the past year, the GSS has not succeeded in bring to court any of these disturbed individuals — is unbelievable and requires an explanation.”

Commentator Says Right-Wing ‘Anarchy’ Endangering Lives of W. Bank’s ‘Good’ Jewish Resid ents

Political commentator Dror Eydar writes a 400-word commentary in Israel Hayom entitled “The Anarchy of Jewish Gangsters.” Eydar writes: “If there was a time when it was pertinent to use the Jewish ‘law of the pursuer’ (‘Din Rodef’), which allows bystanders to kill someone who is pursuing another person for the purpose of murdering them, this is the time. This wild group is pursuing not only the IDF and its officers, but also the entire settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria. The gang is endangering the lives of residents because it is distributing swords to the enemies of the communities in Judea and Samaria, and enabling them to undermine the legitimacy of the settlement enterprise, even among those who love and support it.”

Eydar concludes by saying: “We should not allow this anarchy to go on — an anarchy that is shamefully blackening a magnificent Zionist enterprise. It is neither moral nor genuine, and most importantly, it derails the tremendous efforts of many good people who believe that the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria is vital to Israel’s future.” (Tel Aviv Israel Hayom in English — Website of English-language version of Yisra’el Hayom, Israel’s largest circulation daily distributed free of charge; owned by American businessman Sheldon Adelson, a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu; URL: http://www.israelhayom.com)

Columnist Calls for ‘Harsh and Immediate’ Punishment of Rioters Israel Hayom’s senior political commentator Dan Margalit, in a 400-word commentary entitled “Bring Back Fear of the Government” writes: “On Tuesday, everyone lined up to condemn the rioting against IDF soldiers. Some did so wholeheartedly and others out of compulsion. Some people said they had never seen burning hatred for IDF soldiers like that in the eyes of the rioters. Others lost no opportunity to find fault with the government or certain ministers that might justify the criminal acts of infiltrating an army base or the demilitarized zone between Israel and Jordan.

“Such lofty words and moralizing are apt, but they pale in comparison with the need to act decisively. Those who broke through fences, threw stones at IDF soldiers and tried to obstruct the work of police must be punished. The punishment must be harsh and immediate. No ifs, ands or buts. And definitely no nods or winks.”

Defense Correspondent Says IDF Was Humiliated, Next Attack May Cost Soldiers’ Lives Israel Hayom’s defense correspondent Yo’av Limor writes in a 400-word commentary entitled “The IDF’s Will To Win,” argues that “the words of scared soldiers who hid in their rooms at the army base out of fear of the invaders, the lack of arrests of the rioters and their departure from the base unharmed, should all raise a red flag.

We can talk all day long about an ‘elite’ military unit having ‘operational superiority,’ but if an IDF division – which should be on constant alert for terrorist infiltration attempts, and which underwent countless training sessions in how to confront violent outbursts before the September Palestinian statehood bid at the U.N. – is caught with its pants down, there is cause f or concern. Even without falling victim to the cliche of wondering what would have happened if the invaders had been Palestinian, it is impossible to escape from the bottom line: The IDF emerged humiliated and terrified after Monday night’s attack on the Ephraim Brigade’s base.”

Limor adds that “those who do not act now, after what one top general has described as ‘a hatred toward our soldiers which I have never seen,’ should not be surprised if the next attack costs us soldiers’ lives or sparks unprecedented clashes or even a new intifada.
“And when this happens, it will be the IDF itself that demands action, the same IDF that was attacked Monday night, the same IDF whose soldiers sacrifice their lives every day to protect the extremists who attacked them, the same IDF known as “the people’s army.” And when this happens, we, “the people,” would do well to restore its confidence and its will to win. Otherwise, the evil spirit that has recently been sown in Judea and Samaria will thrust us into a devastating storm.” ”