Rightwing MKs Demand Stronger Action From Netanyahu After Attack

YERUSHALAYIM
Israeli military and security forces at the scene where the body of Dvir Sorek, Hy”d, was found dead with stabbing wounds, near Migdal Oz, Thursday. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Reaction in the Israeli political establishment to the murder of Dvir Sorek, Hy”d, on Thursday was sharp and angry, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that “Israel will bring the terrorists who did this to justice.” But not all, especially on the right, accepted Netanyahu at his word.

United Right candidate Naftali Bennett, for one, said that the declarations of Netanyahu were somewhat hollow. “We woke to a difficult morning, too difficult to bear,” Bennett wrote in a social media post. “A young man just starting out was again murdered by our low enemies. The words ‘we will bring the murderers to justice’ ring more hollow than ever. The murderer, when caught, will spend time in an Israeli prison under good conditions, his home will not really be demolished, and he will receive a monthly salary. This is not ‘bringing them to justice.’”

The Machanayim Hesder Yeshivah where Dvir Sorek studied, on Thursday. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90 )

Bennett was not the only member of the United Right with criticism of Netanyahu. Transportation Minister Betzalel Smotrich demanded that the prime minister assemble the Cabinet immediately to take action. “There is no need for hinting here. Mahmoud Abbas is responsible for this attack, period. The Palestinian Authority promotes terror by inciting Arabs against us and paying salaries to terrorists. We must follow through on the law to cut payments to the PA if it pays terrorists’ salaries. Today we are cutting only 50%. Netanyahu must assemble his ministers and reach a decision to cut off all monies to the PA,” he said.

United Right head Ayelet Shaked also demanded that all payments to the PA be cut off. “Israel, which can derail nuclear plants in Iran, can certainly cope with a cutoff of funds to the PA. If the defense establishment wants to it can make that happen.” An appropriate response, she said, would be to build in Ofra and legalize the status of neighborhoods that are currently in legal limbo. “We need a brave decision to authorize the status of Ofra. That is a necessary move, along with the cutoff of funds to the PA, as long as they pay out salaries to terrorists.”

Also highly critical was Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman, who said that it was “a surrender to terror in Gaza which leads to terrorism in Yerushalayim and in Yehudah and Shomron. Defense officials know about dozens of groups that are planning terror attacks against Jews under the direction of Hamas in Gaza. ‘Arrangements’ with Hamas are just a whitewash of our surrender to terror. Our current policies are a shameful attempt to buy short-term quiet, but sacrificing the security of Israels in the long run.”

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