Hundreds of people have declared a revolt against the State of Israel's legitimate government and refuse to accept decisions made by the government and Knesset, Vice Premier Haim Ramon said Sunday in response to West Bank settlers' acts of violence against the security forces.
"If the government really wants to deal with this, it's very easy," Ramon said during the weekly cabinet meeting. If 20 Palestinians had been bothering the Central Command chief, they would have been in jail a long time ago.
"If the government would make a decision, the establishment would be able to deal with 200 or 300 rioting Jews. There is concrete intelligence information on these Jewish rioters," he claimed.
The vice premier went on to say that "since the evacuation of (the illegal outpost of) Amona two and a half years ago, it appears the government is afraid to confront those extremists. This is why illegal outposts have not been removed since then."
Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann said during the cabinet meeting, "There is a feeling the government is being run by two different voices.
"The question is who is funding, who is building and who is paying for all the expenses involved in the illegal outposts? It's time to stop any direct or indirect funding and support of this illegal activity."
Shin Bet chief warns of political murder
Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin warned that extreme right-wing activists may target Israeli leaders on the eve of the 13th anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.
Diskin told the cabinet ministers that "as the anniversary of the Rabin assassination draws near, the Shin Bet has spotted among right-wing extremists the readiness to use firearms in order to halt political proceedings and harm leaders. The Shin Bet is extremely concerned by this."
Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter said during the meeting that violent occurrences in the West Bank have increased by 10% since 2007, and that "more minors are involved and the number of indictments and defendants has doubled."
He added that "police have identified an increasing readiness among extremists to lash out against the army and police officers", and said that "the system's ability to deal with these rioters will also affect the settlers' violence against the Palestinian population and the surprising violence directed at the leadership of the Judea and Samaria settlement."
Dichter noted that "the issues of rebellion and incitement are very difficult to impose."
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