"Any effort to restore security in the West Bank must include a serious commitment to confronting Jewish extremists alongside Palestinian terrorism."
This is what The Jerusalem Post writes in its article published today. It describes the violence in the West Bank - a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel, where about 500,000 Israeli settlers live, whose settlements are considered illegal under international law. The aggression comes from both Palestinian and Israeli citizens, it becomes clear.
The past week has also been marked by more violence. An Israeli was stabbed after trying to put out a fire allegedly started by Palestinians from the village of Beit Furik. Two Israelis were later killed after an Israeli group illegally entered an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority during a march. Israeli security forces came to their aid. A few days later, extremist settlers entered the Palestinian village of Qusra and set fire to the mosque, spray-painting the entrance with "revenge for Benayahu" - the name of one of the Israelis killed in the response team who came to the group's aid.
Although the events are not "morally equivalent", they demand that the Israeli authorities' response be uncompromising, JP writes. Terrorism cannot be justified, but it is worth asking whether tougher action against lawlessness in the West Bank would not have prevented tensions from escalating. Against this backdrop, Israel has a moral and legal responsibility to prevent such revenge attacks. The rule of law, the country's international image, as well as the security services and law-abiding Israelis in the West Bank, suffer from such crimes.
The response of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz was not long in coming - they imposed tighter controls and expanded counterterrorism operations. However, the focus must be on both sides of the problem, which has not been achieved so far - "for too long, Israel's political echelon has been unwilling to condemn and deter settler violence - and now we are witnessing the consequences of this unwillingness". In recent years, Katz has even called for policies in the opposite direction, such as ending the practice of administrative detention of Jewish suspects while preserving the same for Palestinians.
"The message of unequal enforcement that such decisions send cannot be ignored," JP also writes.
Israel's allies also question why violence by Jewish extremists seems to be treated differently, and Israeli security officials have also warned that settler aggression poses a threat to national security. More leaders need to speak out, as the Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, has called on its citizens not to take revenge into their own hands. The reason many politicians fail to condemn such attacks is for fear of alienating their supporters.
JP also writes that the Palestinian Authority and other community leaders in the West Bank should work to prevent violence against Israeli civilians and soldiers. Like any attack by Palestinians on Israelis, any attack against innocent Palestinians deserves a strong response.
The settlers are not afraid of consequences, which leads to an increase in their actions. However, the state cannot allow politics to dictate which forms of extremism are persecuted.
"The rule of law must be applied equally, otherwise it will gradually erode for all."