MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not tolerate recent sabotage of religious sites

Record ID: 572610

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not tolerate recent sabotage of religious sites
  • Date: 10th October 2011
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 9, 2011) (REUTERS) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU WALKING TOWARDS WEEKLY CABINET MEETING WIDE OF NETANYAHU CONVENING MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING: "Recently we have witnessed attacks on Muslim sites, a Christian site, and a Jewish site -- a synagogue -- which was attacked. We are not prepared to tolerate any vandalism, certainly not of a kind that targets religious sensitivities." WIDE OF NETANYAHU (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING: "We will act with full firmness in order to locate them (those who vandalise religious sites). I have instructed the security services to bring those responsible to justice. We will bring the weight of the law on them." MORE OF NETANYAHU AND MINISTERS DURING MEETING ISRAELI CABINET MINISTER UZI LANDAU SPEAKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI CABINET MINISTER UZI LANDAU SAYING: "This is something which is perpetrated by margin of the margins of our society. And it should be clear that this must be broken, this must be stopped." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI CABINET MINISTER DANIEL HERSHKOWITZ SAYING "There is no room for such operation, I condemn it... in the most serious words I can use. It's anti-Jewish, anti-religious, anti-moral. There's no place for that. I must say that I do urge the police and all other authorities to find the people who did it as soon as possible and to punish them in the most severe way." VARIOUS OF HERSHKOWITZ SPEAKING TO REPORTER JAFFA, ISRAEL (OCTOBER 8, 2011) (REUTERS) ** (NIGHT SCENES) GRAVE AFTER THE WORDS "DEATH TO ARABS" WERE PARTLY ERASED FROM IT (AUDIO: MAN SAYING: "DEATH TO ARABS, WHY? THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO DIED ALREADY, YOU ALSO COME TO THE DEAD AND SAY TO THEM 'DEATH TO ARABS'? DEAD PEOPLE!") MAN OBSERVING BROKEN HEADSTONE GRAFFITI SPRAYED ON HEADSTONES MAN STANDING NEAR HEADSTONE WITH 'X' SPRAYED ON IT MORE OF GRAFFITI VARIOUS OF GRAVE UPON WHICH THE WORDS 'PRICE TAG' WERE PARTLY ERASED
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem, Israel
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8U2Z0V1C4R4WLLMB7VIKHG97G
  • Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers of his cabinet on Sunday (October 9) strongly condemned the recent vandalism of religious sites, after dozens of Muslim and Christian gravestones were found desecrated on Saturday (October 8).
    "Recently we have witnessed attacks on Muslim sites, a Christian site, and a Jewish site -- a synagogue -- which was attacked. We are not prepared to tolerate any vandalism, certainly not of a kind that targets religious sensitivities," Netanyahu said at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, referring to several incidents last week when a mosque was torched, a synagogue and cemeteries were vandalised.
    "We will act with full firmness in order to locate them (those who vandalise religious sites). I have instructed the security services to bring those responsible to justice. We will bring the weight of the law on them," Netanyahu added.
    The desecration of gravestones at adjacent Muslim and Christian cemeteries overlooking the sea at Jaffa, and a fire-bomb that was thrown at a nearby synagogue were reported on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.
    At least five tombs were smashed and others 20 sprayed with Hebrew graffiti, including "Death to Arabs" and "Price Tag", the calling-card slogan used by militant Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank and their supporters.
    The "price-taggers" have vowed to avenge any move by Israel to uproot West Bank settlement outposts built without Israeli government permission, and have torched mosques and vandalised both Israeli and Palestinian property.
    Israeli cabinet ministers strongly condemned the vandalism.
    "This is something which is perpetrated by margin of the margins of our society. And it should be clear that this must be broken, this must be stopped," said cabinet minister Uzi Landau.
    "There is no room for such operation, I condemn it... in the most serious words I can use. It's anti-Jewish, anti-religious, anti-moral. There's no place for that. I must say that I do urge the police and all other authorities to find the people who did it as soon as possible and to punish them in the most severe way," added minister Daniel Hershkowitz.
    Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Reuters an investigation had been launched and officers had increased vigilance. He added that there was no initial indication that the suspects were indeed settlers or settler supporters, and that there was also a possibility that they might be soccer hooligans.
    Rosenfeld also reported a fire-bomb thrown onto the roof of a synagogue late on Saturday in the Jaffa area caused no damage or casualties.
    On Monday (October 3), a mosque in a Bedouin village in northern Israel was set on fire and graffiti sprayed on its walls in an attack authorities have blamed on hardline Jewish settlers.
    The torching drew broad condemnation from top Israeli leaders and Peres and the country's chief rabbis also visited the scene in a bid to calm tensions.
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