Binyamin Netanyahu
Binyamin NetanyahuHadas Parush/Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the double crimes committed during Thursday and Friday last week, including the stabbing at the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade and the arson attack on the Palestinian Authority (PA) village of Duma which killed a baby and injured four family members. 

"We recently witnessed two abhorrent crimes," Netanyahu stated Sunday, as part of his opening remarks for his weekly Cabinet meeting. "Our policy toward these crimes is zero tolerance."

"I have instructed security and law-enforcement officials to use all legal means at their disposal to apprehend the murderers and deal with the stabber and the arsonists to the fullest extent of the law," he continued. "We are determined to vigorously fight manifestations of hate, fanaticism and terrorism from whatever side."

"The fight against these phenomena unites us all," he added. "This is not a struggle by this or that faction. This is a matter of basic humanity and is at the foundation of our enlightened Jewish values."

Netanyahu noted that both attacks, in his view, are beneath the Jewish people.  

"I remember as a child, when I would visit on Shabbat the home of my father's great teacher, Professor Joseph Klausner, among the Jewish People's greatest historians in the modern era, over his door were etched two words: 'Judaism' and 'humanity'," he said. "They are combined and are mutually supportive."

"This is what distinguishes us from our neighbors," he urged. "We deplore and condemn these murderers. We will pursue them to the end."

"They name public squares after the murderers of children," he continued. "This distinction cannot be blurred or covered up. It is important to say this even as we utter our condemnations and unite against the criminals among our people."