Israeli Settlers Threaten Another Hawara Pogrom on Saturday Night - Israel News - Haaretz.com
Israeli settlers posted warnings on social media that they would once again attack the West Bank town of Hawara on Saturday evening, in a repeat of Sunday's pogrom that killed one Palestinian dead and injured nearly 100 others.
Set against the backdrop of homes in flames from Sunday's rampage, one image spreading on Twitter threatens that "We will destroy Hawara" on Saturday.
The Israeli military says it has been monitoring the threats and is preparing accordingly alongside the Shin Bet security service.
Several figures in Israel's security establishment warned over the weekend that another settler attack in the West Bank could come on Saturday during the observance of Shabbat Zachor, the Sabbath before the Purim holiday. In past years, settlers have attacked Palestinians during Shabbat Zachor, on which the Torah portion is read in synagogues that discusses the commandment to destroy the Amalekites, who have come to represent a metaphorical and historical enemy of the Jewish people.
Labor Party lawmaker Naama Lazimi posted the threatening messages making the rounds to her Facebook page and said she had contacted Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai. "The police should arrest the organizers of the next pogrom tonight for planning acts of terrorism," she wrote. "Hawara 2 can and should be prevented."
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The graphics calling for a second rampage in the town were spread in several WhatsApp groups, including "News in the Hills," a popular update group for radical Israeli settlers. They were since deleted, but are still visible on other platforms.
On the day after the Hawara attacks last week, the aforementioned WhatsApp group posted a video of the hostilities, with the caption, "We want to create physically strong, brave and fearless Jews who fight back." They also wrote, "There is no such thing as 'Jewish terror,' there is Jewish vengeance."
Last week's rampage by settlers, which left hundreds of houses and cars burned in Hawara, followed the shootings of 21-year-old Hallel Yaniv and 19-year-old Yagel Yaniv, two brothers from the settlement of Har Bracha. They were shot at close range in Hawara, and Palestinian sources aid that the assailant was wearing a shirt with the insignia of the Nablus-based Lion's Den militant group.
Days after the settler attack, Israel's finance minister and minister in the Defense Ministry, Bezalel Smotrich, said that “The village of Hawara needs to be wiped out." At the same time, he denounced vigilantism: "I think that the State of Israel needs to do that – not, God forbid, private individuals." He made these remarks after being asked why he had “liked” a tweet by the deputy head of the Samaria Regional Council, Davidi Ben Zion, who called for Hawara to be “wiped out today.”
In Washington on Wednesday, when asked about Smotrich's comments, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said: "We remain extremely concerned by ongoing violence in the region. We urge Israel and the Palestinian Authority to protect against further loss of civilian life. We have made our view clear: We oppose statements or actions by either side that exacerbate tensions."