Middle East Monitor / February 27, 2023
An extreme far-right member of the Knesset (parliament) said today that he wants to see the “burning” of Palestinian villages in response to the killing of Jewish settlers. Zvika Fogel of the extreme-right Otzma Yehudit party, headed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, said that he backs the settlers who attacked Palestinian villages yesterday and killed a Palestinian man.
Despite Israel killing dozens of Palestinians since the start of this year, Fogel – the chairman of the Knesset’s National Security Committee – condemned the Israeli government’s response to Palestinian resistance.
“I want to restore security for the residents of the State of Israel,” Fogel told Galey Israel Radio. “How do we do that? We stop using the word ‘proportionality’. We stop with our objection to collective punishment [just] because it doesn’t fly with all sorts of courts. We take the gloves off.”
He concluded: “A closed, burned Huwara; that’s what I want to see. That’s the only way to achieve deterrence. After a murder like yesterday’s, we need burning villages when the [Israel Defence Forces] don’t act.”
