Netanyahu calls for all Israeli Arabs to choose peace and not violence. Illustrative. Netanyahu. Photo Courtesy of UN-Photo/Marco Castro
Following the January 1 shooting in a Tel Aviv pub in which two Israelis were killed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed appreciation for the “condemnations” of the murders by the Arab public. But opposition to violence by some Arabs is not enough, and Netanyahu took the time to call for all Arab citizens of Israel to “take the path of integration, coexistence and peace and not the path of incitement, hatred and fanaticism.”
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on his Twitter feed that the shooting on Friday wounded multiple people and killed two. Making the situation more shocking was its location and timing—a celebration being held at a bar in Tel Aviv. On Saturday night, Netanyahu visited the scene to express his condolences and address the concerns about Arab incitement, comments which were later released by his office.
“There was a heinous and unbelievably vicious murder here,” said Netanyahu. “Young people, whose entire lives were ahead of them, the ages of my own children, were innocently sitting celebrating a birthday and were murdered in cold blood.”
The Israeli leader went on to highlight the problems coming from those in the Israeli Arab community who express hate against the Jewish citizens and the State.
“Among Israel’s Muslim citizens there are many elements that have come out against the violence and wish for full law enforcement in their communities,” said Netanyahu. “However, we all know that there is wild radical Islamic incitement against the State of Israel in the Arab sector. There is incitement in mosques, in the educational system and in social media.”
Netanyahu noted they are “taking strong action against this incitement” and cited the outlawing of a couple radical organizations. They will also upgrade the police forces to address the threat of hate, illegal activities, and terror.
Said Netanyahu, “I am not prepared to accept two States of Israel, a state of law for most of its citizens and a state within a state for some of them, in enclaves in which there is no law enforcement and in which there is Islamist incitement, rampant crime and illegal weapons… This era has ended.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, January 3, 2015)