The Rioters Have Support Within the Government
Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom, 26 June 2023.
The massacre committed by Baruch Goldstein in the Tomb of the Patriarchs in 1994 was likened to “a bolt from the blue.” This was the description at the time by the security establishment leaders, who were caught by surprise by the worst act of terrorism ever committed by a Jew: 29 Palestinian worshippers were murdered and 125 were injured.
Jewish terrorism has known ups and downs since then, but there was probably never a time in which the warning on the wall has been written in such bold letters as it was now. Not only was it shouted in the joint and unprecedented statement on Saturday by the chief of staff, the GSS director and the police commissioner, who are trying to join hands in the fight, but it primarily is being shouted out from the numbers, which demonstrate that actions that used to be taken by a handful of fanatics has today become a mass event.
In the course of 2021, a total of 520 price tag incidents were committed by Jews against Palestinians. In 2022 that number grew to 950 and so far in 2023 there have been 600 incidents (in less than half a year). The situation is similar in terms of the number of major terrorist incidents committed by Jews: 14 incidents in 2021, 25 incidents in 2022 and 25 since the beginning of 2023. This was followed by an uptick in the number of administrative detention warrants issued against Jews: 0 in 2021, five in 2022 and eight in 2023. The number of restraining orders issued by the police also rose from 23 in 2021 to 43 in 2022 and now to 24 in the first half of 2023.
The most hackneyed explanation draws a correlation between the rising tide of Jewish terrorism and rising tide of Palestinian terrorism. They say that the rising number of terror attacks [against Jews] (and casualties) prompts certain members of the Jewish public to “go out and defend themselves.” That is a groundless argument, of course, from every possible angle. In a democratic country, it is the security forces that protect the public; individuals do not have the right to take the law into their own hands. In any case, the issue in question isn’t action that is being taken to protect settlements and citizens, but acts of pure revenge: attacks on Palestinians and their property, usually Palestinians who have no involvement in terrorism (the villages most recently attacked, Silwad, Turmus Aya and Umm Safa are all relatively quiet).
The real explanation lies in what the extremists identify as a tail wind for their actions. There are innumerable examples of this lately: from Finance Minister Smotrich’s call to erase Huwara (which he subsequently walked back) and his description of the recent acts of terrorism committed by Jews as “civilian counteractions,” to Minister Ben Gvir who called on the Jewish public, “run to the hilltops, I give you support.” There are many more examples, primarily from right-wing parties, while the majority of cabinet ministers have remained silent for fear of angering their base or for fear for the fate of the coalition.
The world, of course, has reacted. The outrage in Washington and in Europe has been clearly expressed and will soon begin to hurt Israel. The Arab states, those that are friendly and those that are less so, are furious. The greatest damage will be on the ground. Every act of vengeance leads to a counter act, and so on and so forth. This cycle of bloodshed will only worsen, and instead of protecting Jews, will cause the deaths of many more.
Damage
will be caused in two other spheres as well. The first will be in [the
ICC at] The Hague. An outcome that did not ensue after Goldstein’s
massacre
is liable to ensue now. Since the writing had been on the wall, the
top Israeli security officials will not be able to play the “bolt out of
the blue” card again.
They, the people
who risk their lives for security, are liable to pay with their own
liberty for acts of Jewish terrorism that could easily once again burn
down a house with people inside.
The second and worse sphere is Israeli society as a whole. From being a model society, it is quickly becoming a sick society in which might makes right. The extremists claim to be the new Zionists, but woe to a Zionism of this sort. People who go to set fire to houses and cars on Saturday night are not a role model for anything: they are Jewish terrorists who belong in jail. It would be best if that were to happen before all hell breaks loose.