Netanyahu urges West Bank settlers: Respect the rule of law
Prime Minister gets briefed on investigation into deadly West Bank shooting on Tuesday, tells settlers to show restraint.
By Barak Ravid Tags: Israel news Benjamin Netanyahu Middle East peace Barack ObamaPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday urged settlers in the West Bank to exhibit restraint and respect the rule of law in Israel in the wake of a deadly shooting attack near Hebron that left four Israeli civilians dead.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, September 1, 2010. |
| Photo by: Reuters |
Netanyahu, who arrived in Washington on Tuesday just hours after the attack, spoke with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday to get updates regarding the investigation into the deadly shooting.
Israeli settlers in the West Bank said earlier on Wednesday that they would break a government freeze on construction in their communities to protest the Palestinian shooting attack on the eve of new peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Netanyahu met on Wednesday with Quartet envoy Tony Blair after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, when they discussed the future of Israel's settlement freeze in the West Bank.
Sources from Netanyahu's delegation said the prime minister told Clinton that the Israeli cabinet's stance with regard to the construction moratorium has not changed, and that the 10-month building freeze will expire in September as planned.
Netanyahu reiterated his position that the subject of Israeli settlements must be negotiated within the framework of direct talks and cannot be separated from other core issues to be resolved in a final-status agreement.
Netanyahu and Obama are meeting at 10:45 a.m. (E.S.T.) to discuss the settlement issue, among other topics, ahead of Thursday's start of direct talks.
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Netanyahu is an empty talker. It is an unusual request to ask the settlers to respect the law at any time, but now? You have to hit the settlers when they are committing one of their regular crimes, beating Arabs, burning their crops, or uprooting their trees. Then the settlers will begin to worry about State law. They may not respect it, but at least they will fear the law. Right now, they are not even listening.
Why we did not hear Mr Nitenyahoo asking settler to obey the rule of the law...when sattlers were ravaging Palestinian villages everyday.....harassing palestinians, taking over their houses and burning crops and trees....Or is that part if the law rules
What law do they respect or should they respect, when their own government fails to abide by any rule of law. How about israel obey the rule of law and dismantle the settlements. When that happens, Settlers wont need to show 'restraint', as there won't be any more illegal colonizers on the land.
G-A-Z-A F-L-O-T-I-L-L-A R-A-I-D
The government of Israel has spent the last 30 years teaching the Settlers that they were utterly beyond the law and able to do as they wished without consequence. Why should they comply now just so Bibi may save face?
Where is the UN? The flotilla is UN investigation worthy but this atrocity is not? Shame shame on UN. If this was an Israeli shooting a pregnant arab, the UN would already be involved.
the media is jewish and when a jew dies its a big deal but a palestinian? hardly ever a mention
The UN powers havw usurped by the ridiculous one sided blind incorehensible support of the US vetoes. Live with it.
The UN is laying low like usual because it is only Jews who were killed. The UN would only jump in the speed of light if their Arab countries and their allies would protest a Pals death.
settlers will return bacck to the Israeli... you know according to UN Law and hundreds of resolutions...
How can one be irresponsible enough to leave the safety of Israel and move to illegal settlements in the middle of the Palestinian territory?
They've already declared their lack of respect for any law except that derived from Iron Age fairy tales, simply by being settlers. Urging won't do a thing. What might help is having the IDF enforce the rule of law (or better yet, relocate them back to their side of the Green Line) instead of standing by while settlers terrorize the locals and destroy their properties.
After all, it was only a 19 year period that the area was forcibly cleared of Jews, 1948 to 1967. Before that, they lived there for millenia. On that token, if you think that the west Bank should be Judenrein, what of the Arabs living in Israel proproper?
More than 24 hours have elapsed since the horrible murder of 4 innocent Jews and no response from Israel. Certainly, Obama has told Netanyahu to "show restraint" and Netanyahu the coward has obeyed. There really is no difference between Netanyahu and Barak. One is openly leftist and the other is a secret leftist. Shame on Netanyahu for betraying the people who elected him.
I dont agree with the killings and all respect to the dead.I dissagree with calling them innocent when they know the trouble they cause to the natives by just being there
Sorry, Reb, they were NOT innocents. They were criminals. WAR criminals no less. When a bank robber is killed by a bank employee during the commission of a robbery he is NOT an innocent. when a settler is killed while occupying anothers land, they too are not innocents, rather criminals.
publicly offered Temple Mount to pals even before the negotiation began ,Bibi takes a pot shot at "settlers" . Straighten up ,Bibi ,you negotiate on part of the State of Israel ,don't cringe and suck up to Bambi and Blair.
Doesn't anyone believe in self-reliance? Chronic welfare is not a good thing. Hasta la vista baby. Salaam/Shalom
As long as the majority of palestinians refuse to reject terrorists leadership under Hamas and the rest of the islamic terrrorist groups, US aid and support of Israel will only grow.
For a start, they wouldn't even be settlers if they respected the rule of law.
We're the most law-abiding population in Israel with the lowest crime rates in our communities. We will do our part. You do yours: Protect us politically and militarily.
The answer to that my friend is the Israelis who chose to live their lifes at non-occupied land. Inside the Israeli borders in other words
What do you consider the Israeli borders my historical expert friend?
It is already surprising that he manages to write in a decent fashion...
Why show restraint? So more Jews can be shot./ If Netanyahu cannot even defend a pregnant woman from being shot, maybe he should not be trusted to protecet the nation. What will he tell us when iran nukes us - show restraint. No.
Another Holocaust is on the horizon. Death is about to march on Israel. The World is now as backwards as Israel and dreams of war, military conquest and colonization by force. The doomsday is at hand Eli! Don't let the enemies of God in his kingdom... Did this sound "Settler" to comfort you?
They were settlers, meaning they chose to leave the safety of Israel to go and live in illegal settlements in the middle of Palestinian territory. This was a disastrous choice, but it was their choice, they must have known what they were doing was wrong.
He urged them? His only action should be to tell them they have to obey the law, and if they don't, they will be stepped on. The law applies to them just as much as it does to Palestinians.