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Last update - 00:50 04/12/2008
Livni: Israel must not let itself turn into the 'wild west'
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Shimon Peres 

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday decried the recent violence exhibited by settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron, saying Israel must not allow certain of its territories to turn into the wild west.

"This is a phenomenon which must be stopped," Livni told delegates at a political summit in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening.

"When we look at what is happening in Hebron we must be clear," she added. "This is not just one house or an isolated incident. Unfortunately, this is the story of a group that does not recognize the authority of the government to make decisions, the authority of the court, or the authority of the Israel Defense Forces and the police to operate."
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Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu also alluded to the so-called "House of Contention" in Hebron, where dozens of settlers have holed themselves up in defiance of a court order to evacuate due to disputed ownership claims.

"We must act according to the law," Netanyahu said. "I support using an iron hand against those who disrupt law and order," he added.


Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Wednesday that the wave of unrest escalating in Hebron of late was liable to spill over into other West Bank settlements, adding that Israel would not allow a small group of extremists to take over the state.

In an interview with Channel Two, Barak called on "everyone who can use their influence to do so now" before the evacuation in bloodshed.

"The order will be carried out within the time alloted by the High Court," Barak added.

He said he would continue talking to settler leaders, but vowed there would be no compromise over evacuation of the building. "The Supreme Court has made a decision, and that decision will be implemented," he said. "Israel is a nation of laws."


The defense minister also brushed off international criticism of Israel's settlement policy by saying that not a single illegal outpost had been established by the state in the last two years.

Earlier Wednesday, President Shimon Peres branded recent acts of violence by rightists against Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Hebron as attacks on the country as a whole.

"Whoever throws a stone at a soldier, it is as if he has thrown a stone at the State of Israel," said Peres. He made the comments in an address at a memorial ceremony for Paula Ben-Gurion, the wife of Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.

An IDF source also blasted the violent conduct of settler youth, saying rabbis and principals are "turning a blind eye to their students' skipping school to go to Hebron, and some are even encouraging them."

"We're sorry about the boy who was seriously wounded Tuesday," a military official added, "but the truth needs to be said: He is not a resident of Hebron and there was nothing for him to be doing there, in the heart of the riots. He should have stayed in school."

A special detachment of Border Patrol officers deployed in HebronTuesday following statements made by IDF officials in recent days that settler violence has been "almost unprecedented" in it's severity.

"We cannot accept attempts by small groups of radicals to undermine the authority of the state over its citizens," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday. "Security forces will have to act so that the law is respected."

Prominent settler leader Daniela Weiss, meanwhile, on Wednesday denied reports that the area surrounding the House of Contention in Hebron was a closed military zone, despite officials declaring it so Tuesday.

"There is no closed military zone here... People are walking around freely from [the settlement of] Kiryat Arba to the house, and from there to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. I don't see any signs of the [military] order," said Weiss, speaking to Army Radio.

Weiss, an extreme right-wing activist who has in the past been detained for attacking police officers, continued: "This is an anti-Semitic act - the thought of evicting Jews from the home. I hope that the government will regain its sanity and they will remove this decree."

The chairman of the Yesha Council of settlements, Danny Dayan, criticized Weiss for her comments Wednesday, saying she was responsible for brining about "irreversible damage to the future of the House of Peace [the term used by settlers referring to the House of Contention]."

Dayan added that Weiss' conduct creates the opposite effect from the one intended, saying "Weiss plays precisely the part assigned to her by the left - that of turning Judea and Samaria into a sort of 'Wild West' in the eyes of the Israeli public."

According to Dayan, the leadership of the Jewish settlements in Hebron is responsible, and is able to fight firmly while respecting boundaries. "Our struggle is legitimate and must be conducted in legitimate ways: It can be won legitimately," Dayan said.

Related articles:
  • Border Patrol deploys around Hebron house in wake of violent clashes in West Bank city
  • Next to Hebron's 'House of Contention,' Palestinian neighbors live in fear
  • 20,000 Jewish pilgrims to descend on Hebron amid settler violence
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      1.   As Arabs bomb Israel, the war by Israel gov against Jews is on. 17:29  |  Alon Chiloni 03/12/08
      2.   Whoever throws a stone at a Jew, it is as if he has thrown a 17:31  |  Dick 03/12/08
      3.   and Government provocateurs, who abound, are a threat to what? 17:59  |  Yaakov K. 03/12/08
      4.   Hebron violence? Smoke in the eyes of Israeli cityzen 18:03  |  Daniel 03/12/08
      5.   the people of israel are under attack by the government 18:13  |  JL 03/12/08
      6.   Oh Yeah Mr. Peres 18:21  |  Ronald 03/12/08
      7.   THEY FORGOT WHAT IT IS TO BE JEWISH! 18:36  |  Tom Lobo Meyer 03/12/08
      8.   Attack all Israel? 18:55  |  N.P. 03/12/08
      9.   What peres olmert livni vilnai and barak will never say 18:55  |  Arie 03/12/08
      10.   Israel and the U.S. 19:01  |  N.P. 03/12/08
      11.   No, we are just attacking Peres`s corrupt vision of it 19:35  |  Settler Extremist 03/12/08
      12.   Settlers who attack PA farmers are attacking all of the world 19:54  |  Dav 03/12/08
      13.   Wrong: When you try to evict Jews You are attacking all Israel... 20:24  |  Bemet 03/12/08
      14.   To N.P. 20:24  |  Magnus K. 03/12/08
      15.   a small group 20:55  |  Ralph 03/12/08
      16.   How is this news to anyone? 20:57  |  Lee Kaplan 03/12/08
      17.   A very few can affect many 21:57  |  Hatem Bazian 03/12/08
      18.   Have Israeli Intelligence Services Infiltrated Settler Movement? 22:00  |  chet 03/12/08
      19.   The settlers are drama queens 22:06  |  Shoded Yam 03/12/08
      20.   civilized world to livni: nice to see you have left settlers and 22:30  |  indians behind 03/12/08
      21.   Must not let itself? 22:32  |  sh 03/12/08
      22.   Dear Israel, You have been letting it happen since 1967... 22:39  |  John 03/12/08
      23.   secular mindsets fear fear itself 22:56  |  nuchem 03/12/08
      24.   Wild West? 22:59  |  the difference 03/12/08
      25.   Bernet #13... your analogy is ridiculous... 23:00  |  Esther 03/12/08
      26.   Wild west? 23:08  |  billy jack 03/12/08
      27.   LET IT BE THE WILD WEST WITH JUSTICE BY THE HANGING ROPE 23:08  |  jewish doctor 03/12/08
      28.   When people feel deserted by a corrupt & unrepresentative gov`t 23:10  |  just wondering 03/12/08
      29.   lawlessness and thuggery cannot be allowed 23:12  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/12/08
      30.   John #22... yes indeed, the primal illegality... 23:21  |  Esther 03/12/08
      31.   Attacks 23:29  |  Arie 03/12/08
      32.   Political will and resolution ! 23:46  |  DovBer 03/12/08
      33.   Livni, wake up, we are one people, we are one land 23:46  |  Harvey 03/12/08
      34.   Livni, leave these Jews alone 23:52  |  harvey 03/12/08
      35.   Not the state, but its citizens 00:04  |  David 04/12/08
      36.   Don`t you get it?--HEBRON IS A DISTRACTION 00:27  |  * BEN JABO 04/12/08
      37.   #12 DAV - I`ll revise that just a bit 00:31  |  * BEN JABO 04/12/08
      38.   Muslim/Arabs throw stones at IDF every day 01:46  |  Great White North 04/12/08
      39.   Where Jews can`t buy land 01:52  |  Great White North 04/12/08
      40.   Non-muslims 01:54  |  Great White North 04/12/08
      41.   Well, it has been a wild west for a long while, but 02:07  |  RB 04/12/08
      42.   It is good to see Haaretz finally taking up the cause of Jews 02:20  |  Genuine Tosefta 04/12/08
      43.   THAT`S REALLY IRONIC HOW SHE STATES THE WORDS WILD WEST,SINCE SHE 02:35  |  glenna 04/12/08
      44.   #34, Harvey "Leave these Jews Alone" You don`t mean that 02:46  |  newageblues 04/12/08
      45.   Um, you`re about 25 years too late Tzipi 03:11  |  peacelover 04/12/08
      46.   One can understand the fear... 03:29  |  Victor 04/12/08
      47.   Gotto love the presumption! 04:05  |  Johnboy 04/12/08
      48.   They Have Politics Outside Your Village, Too 04:11  |  Brendan 04/12/08
      49.   In charge terorists 04:13  |  Dudka 04/12/08
      50.   Livni is like the Dance Hall Lady in the Westerns 04:25  |  *BEN JABO 04/12/08
      51.   Happening because Olmert,Barak, and Livni stink as leaders 05:33  |  Livin In Rishon 04/12/08
      52.   This Government ism unable to protect Israelis 05:41  |  Shepherd 04/12/08
      53.   To Defend Our Homeland from Foreign and National Axis of Evil 06:04  |  Joseph.E 04/12/08
      54.   Under Livni, Israel has become the spineless defeatist East 07:50  |  Jonathan Davis 04/12/08
      55.   The road map is a product of desperation & It can`t work. 12:15  |  Akram Zekaria 04/12/08
      56.   When Israel goes to war with Iran... 12:50  |  Maureen Ann 04/12/08
      57.   MAUREEN Iran sent children running over landmines 13:25  |  PETER SM 04/12/08
      58.   Settler violence - it`s just a bunch of guys 15:09  |  Erastus CoupeDeVille 04/12/08
      59.   Joseph E. You are brilliant but: 16:18  |  Akram Zekaria 04/12/08
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