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| Public Security Minister: Deport Terror Operatives, Supporters |
| 2014-11-23 |
| [IsraelTimes] Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said Saturday that Israel should use the threat of deportation and the revocation of residency permits and social rights as a deterrent against East Jerusalem terror operatives and their supporters The minister said he lends his full support to Interior Minister Gilad Erdan who earlier Saturday said that he was reviewing the possibility of revoking the Israeli residencies of East Jerusalem Arabs who support terror. âThe families [of terrorists] should know that this tool includes deportation [to Gaza or the West Bank] and the revocation of residency permits,â Aharonovitch told Channel 2âs Meet the Press Saturday. âWe know from past intifadas and past experiences that this [deterrent] works,â Aharonovitch said. The public security minister rejected recent criticisms by Economy Minister Naftali Bennett who said that the security establishment has been merely responding to terror attacks instead if working to thwart them. Jerusalem has witnessed five terror attacks since mid-October alone. Aharonovitch also reiterated the warning he issued last week that Knesset members and Jewish visitors may be barred from the Temple Mount so as to avoid a deterioration of the already tense security situation in East Jerusalem and across the country. The recent violence in the capital has been largely attributed to tensions surrounding the Temple Mount and widespread Palestinian assertions â denied by Israel â that Israel is planning to change the status quo at the site, the holiest in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. âThose who want to heat things up on the Temple Mount, from right or left, be it the Islamic Movement, Fatah or Israeli rightist movements, including MKs, we have the authority to prevent them from going,â Aharonovitch said in an interview with Channel 1 last week. âWhen thereâs an operational need, and we see that it may lead to riots, I will not allow them to go,â he added. Earlier Saturday, Erdan told attendees at a press conference in Ness Tziona that he has âinstructed the staff at the Interior Ministry to assess and advise me on how my authority may be widenedâ¦to nullify the permanent residency and accompanying social rights of East Jerusalem Arabs who promote terror and incite violence.â It was not clear what constituted promotion of terror in Erdanâs view, but his statements appeared to follow similar ones made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier this month the premier said he would âinstruct the interior minister to evaluate revoking the citizenship of those who call for the destruction of the State of Israel,â in response to widespread protests and riots among the Israeli Arab community following the police killing of a 22-year-old man in the Galilee town of Kafr Kanna. While theoretically possible, changing the law to allow for such action has been described by experts as ethically problematic and a threat to freedom of speech. Yet more problematic is the prime ministerâs apparent intention to transfer the authority to revoke a personâs nationality from the courts to the cabinet. A judge is meant to be an independent arbiter of the law; the interior minister is a political figure who worries chiefly about his party and his popularity. The initiative has been described as a radical threat to freedom of expression by Debbie Gild-Hayo, director of policy advocacy at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. âAs is known, the importance of freedom of expression lies precisely in protecting extreme and controversial expressions,â she said earlier this month. Erdanâs and Aharonovitchâs announcements came amid already high tensions in Jerusalem particularly, following five terror attacks in the capital in under a month, with all the perpetrators originating from East Jerusalem neighborhoods. The latest terror attack saw the shooting and hacking to death of four men at prayer and a Druze policeman who tried to stop the killings at a synagogue in the capitalâs Har Nof neighborhood on Tuesday morning. The two Palestinian terrorists, cousins Uday and Ghassan Abu Jamal from Jabel Mukaber, were shot and killed by police at the scene. One of the cousins was employed at a grocery store near the synagogue. Following the gruesome killings, which rattled Israel, Ashkelon mayor Itamar Shimoni announced Thursday that he would terminate construction of bomb/rocket shelters at any kindergarten where Arab workers were employed and also order the posting of armed guards outside kindergartens near building sites that employ Arab construction workers. The move drew condemnation from Israeli leaders across the political spectrum. Netanyahu criticized Shimoniâs announcement, saying âThereâs no place for discrimination against Israeli Arabs. We mustnât generalize about an entire population because of a small minority of violent and belligerent [individuals].â Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said the move smacks of 1930s Germany. Israel has vowed to respond forcefully to the attacks and has ordered the demolitions of the family homes of several terrorists, including the ones from Tuesdayâs attack. The government has also reportedly been considering not returning the bodies of the cousins to their families for burial, as an additional punitive measure. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |