The videotape showing settler Yifat Alkobi abusing her Palestinian neighbors in Hebron was aired at a perfect time from the perspective of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

It gave them the chance to compete with each other in their expressions of shock over Alkobi's behavior and to promise, like so many prime ministers and defense ministers before them, to take care of settler violence in Hebron.

The truth is that as repellent as Alkobi's actions were, they are a marginal matter compared to the long-term unruly behavior of the settlers, who have been gradually banishing the Palestinians from their homes in Hebron's Israeli-controlled H2 sector surrounding the city's Jewish homes, with state backing.

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Condemnations, not steps

It's likely that this time, too, the matter will end with condemnations rather than concrete steps against the settlers involved.

Yesterday Peretz's deputy, Ephraim Sneh, visited Hebron and expressed the requisite shock. True change? Not now. The army isn't interested in clashing with the settlers, the police are cautious and the courts support them, for the most part.

Here's the story: Jewish construction is continuing in Hebron while the state looks in the other direction.

The Israel Defense Forces boast about the economic improvement in the lives of Palestinians residing in the Palestinian-controlled H1 sector, thereby distorting the sad truth: At this rate, Palestinians won't be living in the H2 sector for much longer.