Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) said Thursday evening that Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas is “addicted to terror.”
Bennett, who also serves as the Jerusalem Affairs Minister, also came out fiercely against the policies of the government that he himself is a part of, and warned that unless it goes on the offensive, it has no right to exist.
“In recent days we have witnessed a wave of terror sweeping Jerusalem,” he said at a conference of the Adam Ve’adama Center at Bar Ilan University. “The car terror attacks that have already taken human lives, among them those of three-month-old Chaya, and the attempt to assassinate Yehuda Glick, are only the most extreme expression of an organized, well-timed and intentional campaign meant to undermine Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem.”
“The hand on the wheel is that of Abu Mazen,” he said, using the kunya name of Mahmoud Abbas. “He is the driver, he is the navigator, he is the sponsor of terror.”
“Abu Mazen, who says that Jews defile the Temple Mount just by entering it, and calls to stop them in any way, is not a partner – he is a terrorist,” Bennett thundered. “Abu Mazen, who sent a letter of condolence to the family of the would-be-assassin of Yehuda Glick, and whose movement declared the murderer of a three-month-old baby a martyr, is not a partner, he is a terrorist.”
He went on: “Abu Mazen, who united with Hamas, with the launchers of rockets and the diggers of tunnels, works with it and encourages it to hurt as many Jews as possible, is not a partner, he is a terrorist. Abu Mazen is addicted to terror. He is addicted to incitement and hurting Jews. Arafat did it in uniform and with a handgun, Abu Mazen does it with a suit and tie. That is the whole difference.”
Time for a ‘Defensive Shield’ in Jerusalem
“Folks, when there is no deterrence, there is terror. When your enemies have hope that they can chase you out of your capital city, there is terror. When the victim is blamed – a Jew who wants to pray, a Jew who wants to hitch a ride, a Jew who wants to take the train – when they are blamed, then you get more and more terror.
“The concept that Israel will fortify itself senseless is collapsing before our very eyes. People must not hide behind concrete obstacles in the capital of Israel. Concrete obstacles encourage terror. I say here, in the clearest way: a government that hides behind concrete obstacles instead of the terrorists hiding behind concrete obstacles, has no right to exist.”
“A government that apologizes instead of demanding an apology when its citizens are killed, has no right to exist. A government that does not know how to bring back deterrence and sovereignty and supply security for its citizens in their capital, has no right to exist. I ask you – when did we become a state with a strategic concept of always going on the defensive?”
“Concrete obstacles, fences and Iron Domes, security guards at every corner. A shelter for every child. It is time to carry out a Defensive Shield in our capital, Jerusalem,” referring to the 2002 IDF operation against the Second Intifada.
“We must raise the head of the nation of Israel,” he concluded. “We must stop blaming ourselves. The wounded are still in mortal danger and I hear that some among us are blaming us. That they want to silence us. But we will not be silent, because terror is raging. We will not be silent, because civilians are afraid to go to the Kotel. We will not be silent, because trips to our capital are being cancelled. The concept of remaining on the defensive has collapsed, as other concepts collapsed only recently. We will snap out of it, and we will win.”
