Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu used language that is usually reserved for terrorist murderers in a reaction to the vandalizing of the military vehicle that serves the IDF Commander of the Samaria Regiment, Col. Yoav Yarom. The vehicle's tires were slashed, in an apparent “price tag” action by extremist Jews, at Yitzhar.
"We will act with zero tolerance against whoever harms the IDF or its commanders,” vowed Netanyahu. “The terrorists will pay the price for their criminal act.”
Sunday's attack was the second time that the tires of the vehicle that serves Col. Yarom were slashed at Yitzhar this year.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon branded the incident "extremely serious" and said it warranted an "uncompromising response."
"In my eyes we are talking about terrorism, for all intents and purposes," he added. "We must uproot these phenomena and wage an all-out war against them."
"We cannot allow a marginal and violent group of extremists to challenge the rule of law," he added, and noted that Col. Yarom worked "day and night" to ensure the security of local Jewish communities against Arab terrorism.
An Arab village in the Galilee was targeted in a suspected "price-tag" incident last week, according to police.
Around 40 cars had their tires slashed in the predominantly Christian village of Jish, in northern Israel, which lies some 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the Sea of Galilee, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said Thursday morning.
Although police and the Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) have made a priority of tracking down Price Tag perpetrators, they are almost never caught or convicted. Part of the reason may be that the perpetrators have been taught various techniques of dealing with Shin Bet interrogations, by veteran activists who experienced many such situations. Another reason is apparently that many of the suspected Price Tag operations have turned out to be staged by Arabs and leftists, in order to besmirch the Jews.