Peace Now secretary-general Yariv Oppenheimer has been assigned a security detail in the wake of an attack on prominent political science historian, Professor Ze'ev Sternhell early Thursday morning.
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The controversial professor, who was awarded the Israel Prize, was lightly injured when a pipe bomb exploded outside his front door in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />
The 73-year-old
Flyers proclaiming, "The time has come for a halachic state in Judea and
"The extremist Right poses an existential danger to Israeli democracy," said Oppenheimer on Thursday, who blamed the attack on rights activists in Judea and
"Law enforcement authorities must abandon their lenient policy when it comes to law-breakers from within the settler community and their supporters before we see another politically-motivated murder in
Dr. Yitzchak Klein, Director of the Israel Policy Center, slammed those who carried out the bombing, though he also spared little sympathy for "the vicious Jew-baiting Jew Ze'ev Sternhell" either. Klein condemned the phenomenon of Jewish violence against Jews, regardless of who cast the first stone and who was the one struck.
"[The attackers] have no right to pass sentence of death on any Jew, far less on those innocent Jews who might die as a result of escalating violence," he contended on his IsraelNationalNews.com blog, "The State of the Nation."
Politicians Call for Increased Security, Left Blames Right
Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed not to let any harm come to Sternhell or any other person who chooses to express an opinion that might prove unpopular. "We won't let any elements, from any dark corner of Israeli society, harrass people who let their clear, lucid unique voices like that of Ze'ev Sternhell be heard," he said in a statement.
Kadima Knesset Member Otniel Schneller called for increased security, saying those who had bombed Sternhell's house were dangerous criminals who should face a judge for the attack.
However, warned Schneller, the attempt by the Left to "take advantage of difficult events to polarize the public is extremely dangerous. Those who automatically blame the extreme Right are stirring up discord," he said.
Meretz Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On slammed security agencies in the wake of the attack, charging them with favoring rights activists, who she also blamed for the attack. "The attempt to hurt Professor Sternhell is the result of the lenient attitude and weakness of the law enforcement agencies towards the extremist Right," she said in a statement following the bombing.
"They better not talk to us about a few bad weeds," added Meretz party chairman Chaim Oron menacingly, who added that as far as he was concerned, the "thuggish and dangerous act" came as the result of law enforcement officials not cracking down on the "brutish section of the extreme right wing." Oron contended that "these phenomena spring up on the right wing."
The National Jewish Front organization denied responsibility for the attack, saying, "We're not connected to the incident and do not operate that way." However, the group also stopped short of criticizing the bombing, adding, "We will not condemn it. Sternhell legitimized attacks against settlers."