At its weekly session Sunday morning, the Cabinet discussed the security situation, and specifically the option of razing terrorists' homes.  Many voices were raised in favor - though the homes in question still stand.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during the meeting, "Razing the homes of terrorists is an efffective tool that should be used."  Asked by Channel One English news why, then, it has not been done, Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev evaded the question and said only, "Terrorist attacks from eastern Jerusalem have become a phenomenon, and it must be dealt with on three levels: Better security and police work, better intelligence, and more deterrent measures."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Labor) said, "I regret that terrorist home demolitions are not happening faster." He said this method is an important deterrent factor and that it must be implemented.

At issue is the destruction of the homes of the three recent eastern Jerusalem terrorists: those who perpetrated the Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav massacre and the two tractor-bulldozer attacks.  Minister Barak noted that the matter is under the authority of Israel Police, which he said "should settle the matter with the security establishment." 

Deputy Premier Chaim Ramon, on the other hand, said destroying individual houses would solve nothing, and that Israel must part with eastern Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods.  "It is Israel's interest to part with these neighborhoods that were never Jerusalem," Ramon said, "and they endanger the existence of Jerusalem's capital as a Jewish and Zionist city."

MKs and Shabak Chief

MK Moshe Kachlon (Likud) told Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine, "The [tractor-]terrorist's house should have been destroyed that very day, with the very same tractor he used. It's a disgrace that Jewish MKs spend their time defending the murderer.  We must remember [the Sages' dictum] that whoever is compassionate to the cruel, will end up being cruel to the compassionate."

MK Yochanan Plesner (Kadima) said, "The world understands Israel's need to protect itself; the destruction of houses has proven itself as a very effective tool, and we must continue to utilise it."

Yuval Diskin, head of the General Security Service (Shabak), told the ministers, "In light of the terrorism emanating from eastern Jerusalem, we must create new deterrent methods that will cause terrorists to think twice."

Olmert: How Will We Answer Ourselves in Five Years?

Other security matters were also discussed at the Cabinet meeting.  Prime Minister Olmert related to the situation along the Gaza border and the intermittent ceasefire violations by Hamas: "There are ceasefire violations with shootings and combat, and we will weigh these things.  I have the fear that a situation is developing in the south [along the Gaza border] which will cause us to ask ourselves five years from now, 'How did we let this happen?' And so I plan to hold a Cabinet consultation on the matter."

Shabak chief Diskin said that Hamas is "maintaining the ceasefire, but is using it to rearm against us."  He also weighed in against the recent exchange with Hizbullah, saying it encourages further abductions of soldiers.  Israel recently returned to Hizbullah five live terrorists, including child-murderer Samir Kuntar, as well as nearly 200 bodies of terrorists and infiltrators, in return for the bodies of two abducted and murdered IDF soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

Diskin Warns of Increased Moslem Extremism in Jerusalem

Diskin said that some eastern Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods are becoming terrorist centers. "Shuafat [in northern Jerusalem] has become more problematic than ever," he said, "and even more than [Judea and Samaria]... We can only enter with large numbers of forces, and we are met with fierce resistance by the [Arab] residents.  Solidarity with world Islamic Jihad is increasing as our enforcement and deterrence decreases."