All those who insist that the IDF works hand-in-glove with right-wing Jewish settlers might want to check this piece on YNet:
In an unprecedented move, the administrative order against settler Neriah Ofen, keeping him away from the West Bank, was extended to also include the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Pisgat Zeev and Neve Yaakov.
The order was signed by GOC Home Front Command Major General Yair Golan.
Ofen, a right-wing activist, is well known to the security services from the days of the Gaza disengagement, when he was suspected of planning attacks against Arabs. He was also under administrative detention.
Last year he was ordered to keep away from the West Bank after vengeance attacks against Palestinians were attributed to him. As a result, he moved to the Pisgat Zeev neighborhood in Jerusalem where he began working to “preserve the Jewish character” of the neighborhood.
His activities included “keeping Arabs away,” and preventing the sale of property to Arabs. The Shin Bet monitored his activities and again it was decided to keep him away from the area.
The IDF said that the order to keep him away from these areas was issued for the sake of national security, public safety and the maintenance of public order. The ban was issued in light of information presented by security officials and in accordance with their recommendations.
Read it all. Hat-tip to ATFP’s news digest, which - unlike the Viva Palestina’s of this world - doesn’t filter out the politically inconvenient stories.
Daniel Levy has a very good piece here about the danger that the extremist settlers pose to Israel.
Continue reading ‘Hard-Line Settlers: A Clear and Present Danger to Israel’
Concluding an article about the current situation in Hebron, Ron Ben-Yishai writes,
These are difficult days for the Israeli government, for security forces, and also for the established leaderships of the settlers in Judea and Samaria. If they are unable, through cooperation, to contain the riots and curb them, not only will Israeli democracy be undermined; the whole State of Israel could end up facing chaos and possibly, heaven forbid, a civil war.
Continue reading ‘Hebron and How to Avoid a Civil War’
There is a more urgent priority for Israel than reaching a deal with the Palestinians and Syrians and that is remaining a state that is governed by laws and democratic institutions. The principle threat to Israel’s democratic institutions doesn’t come from Tehran, or Damascus or Gaza. It comes from the religiofascist settler hordes that have been long coddled by the very state whose institutions they hold in contempt.
Continue reading ‘The Hebron Evacuation’
Settler extremists living in a disputed house in the West Bank city of Hebron have erected a banner reading “Supreme Court - Sodom.” This obscurantist insult is directed at Israel’s Supreme Court, which has issued the settlers with an eviction order.
Continue reading ‘“Supreme Court - Sodom”’
Just occasionally, Juan Miguel Muñoz, El País’s rabidly anti-Israel correspondent in Jerusalem, gets something right. Writing here he reports on the ongoing toleration of the outrageous behavior of religiofascist settlers on the West Bank.
Continue reading ‘The Enemy Within’
