Netanyahu: Those who condemn terror against Palestinians silent on terror against Jews

JERUSALEM POST – Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a number of other Israeli political leaders reacted Thursday to a terror attack in the West Bank on Thursday in which a Palestinian driver seriously wounded three IDF soldiers.

The Prime Minister immediately commended the swift actions of the IDF who responded to the attack and wished the injured a speedy recover.

He once again called on the international community to condemn this attack and the one earlier in the week when an Israeli vehicle was firebombed in east Jerusalem. The US did condemn the Jerusalem attack.

Netanyahu said, “I find it strange that those who were quick to condemn terrorism against Palestinians are silent when the terrorism is directed at Jews.”

Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman praised the IDF security forces who arrived at the scene for responding correctly and shooting the terrorist, but slammed  Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon for inaction in preventing such attacks.

“Responsibility for this falls on the prime minister and minister of defense, who are not working in a determined way to fight terror and to stop it from happening. Rather, they are doing the opposite, he said”

Zionist Union also lauded the security forces at the scene of the attack.

“We applaud the IDF soldiers for acting appropriately and directly to stop the terrorist from hurting even more people and are convinced that the security forces will seek out whoever is behind this attack until they are caught, so that every terrorist will know that the State of Israel will not let terrorists slip out of its grasp.  We wish those injured a quick recovery. “

“It is up to the prime minister to restore security for every person in Israel. This is an extremely serious incident of criminal terrorism.”

Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan said the most effective response would be to deport the terrorist’s family immediately.

“Only significant deterrence will prevent additional terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens,” he added.

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel pointed out that “residents of Judea and Samaria deal with attacks and harassment every day that don’t reach the media” and called on Ya’alon to increase security at major intersections.

“This attack, like previous ones, are a direct result of the Palestinians’ well-oiled incitement system,” he stated.

Ariel also said that while “us Jews” condemned the firebombing of Palestinian homes last weekend, he does not expect the Palestinian Authority to do the same following Thursday’s attack.

Culture Minister Miri Regev said “the time has come for [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas to stop being two-faced. I call on him to fight incitement and hatred that is deeply rooted in the PA; it must be uprooted.”

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said he “salutes IDF soldiers who acted quickly and determinedly and killed the terrorist…Anyone who harms or tries to harm Israeli citizens needs to know that our long hand will reach him.”

The Joint List did not respond to requests for comment.