BICOM

Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon yesterday unequivocally condemned so-called ‘Price Tag’ attacks and said that “all available means” would be deployed to deal with the perpetrators.

‘Price Tag’ attacks, acts of vandalism against Palestinian property by those opposed to curbs on settlement building, hit the headlines after a group of Jewish West Bank settlers was yesterday forcibly detained by Palestinians in the village of Kusra. The group was suspected of preparing to carry out a reprisal after Israel’s Civil Administration had earlier in the day uprooted olive trees illegally planted by settlers near the West Bank outpost of Esh Kodesh. The settlers escaped serious injury during their detention due to the efforts of local Palestinian elders and IDF forces who eventually led them away.

Speaking yesterday in the aftermath of the incident, Ya’alon said uncompromisingly “The unacceptable phenomenon called ‘Price Tag’ attack is, in my eyes, a terrorist act in every sense of the word.” He pledged to “act against its perpetrators with zero tolerance, and with a stern and determined hand to eradicate it.” Ya’alon further commented, “We will not allow marginal, extreme and violent groups to forcefully and illegally take control of properties that are not theirs, to threaten Palestinian residents.” He also emphasised that those who carry out the attacks do not represent the vast majority of Israelis in the West Bank, saying “There’s no connection between these law breakers and the settlements and their decent residents.”

Indeed, Danny Dayan, former head of the Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria, the representative body of the settlement movement, commented that ‘Price Tag’ attacks are a “moral calamity and practical idiocy, because they cause only damage and tarnish our image.” He warned that the perpetrators “will end up setting the place on fire.”

Meanwhile, tension continued to simmer in the West Bank this morning when Palestinians threw three Molotov cocktails at an Israeli bus travelling between Gush Etzion and Hebron. No injuries were reported.