Efraim Sneh, formerly a Labor \Knesset member, called Monday for Defense Minister Ehud Barak to jail Land of Israel activist Daniella Weiss. Weiss is “leading a rebel force,” he said.
Sneh accused Weiss and fellow activists of carrying out “pogroms” and “threatening to ignite all of Judea and Samaria.” Weiss “leads people to rebel and openly incites against the state of Israel,” Sneh alleged. “It cannot be that someone who stands at the head of armed, anti-state forces and threatens soldiers will be allowed to walk freely and spread poison openly, in front of television cameras, as if there was no law in Israel,” he said.
He called on Barak to charge Weiss with incitement to violence, violating an IDF order, disrupting soldiers as they carried out an order, sedition, and “many other crimes”. Barak must enforce the law in order to prevent the outbreak of violence in Hevron and all of Judea and Samaria, he concluded.
Sneh, who is running for Knesset with the newly established left-wing party Strong Israel, attacked Weiss and other nationalists during a visit to Hevron on Monday as well. “The violence here is caused by a handful of wild and brutal people who bring shame on the state. We must deal with them with a strong hand,” he said. The “handful” is led by Weiss, he added.
Weiss, formerly the mayor of Kedumim, has blamed the government and senior IDF officials for violence in Hevron. Charges of activist violence against soldiers were fabricated, she said two weeks ago, accusing the government of slandering Land of Israel activists.
Weiss has also faced opposition from the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) after refusing the council's help in fighting the planned expulsion of Jews from the Peace House in Hevron. According to the Jerusalem Post, Yesha Council head Danny Dayan even requested that Weiss be removed from Hevron entirely.
On Sunday, the Land of Israel Faithful organization released quotes according to which Weiss was directed by Hevron spiritual leader Rabbi Moshe Levinger. Levinger told Barak that he had directed “every step of Daniella Weiss,” the organization said.
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