Moti Yogev
Moti YogevFlash 90

Reactions are beginning to surface after Monday's shocking stabbing attack on an IDF soldier, with many fuming that the State needs to establish deterrence - now. 

MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) fired at the fact that the assailant - a 25 year-old from Shechem (Nablus) - allegedly entered Israel illegally for work.  

"The bill I spearheaded for increasing the severity of punishment for employing illegal immigrants is the solution," Yogev stated. "Once again, we see a Palestinian worker enter Israel illegally and carry out a terror attack, unfettered, at the heart of the State of Israel." 

"I had proposed a bill to worsen the punishment for those who employ illegal immigrants, which is meant to give another incentive to reduce the number of infiltrators into Israel," he continued.

"I call on the Central District Commander to be vigilant in 'closing the circle' regarding illegal Palestinian workers, who are noted by the Defense Ministry to be a security risk to the State, and to thus prevent them from receiving work permits and traveling on buses subsidized by the State of Israel." 

MK Nissan Slomiansky (Jewish Home) dubbed the incident an example of the "cancer of terrorism." 

"Once again, it has been proved that if the cancer of terrorism goes untreated, it will spread not only to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, but also in Tel Aviv and, later, all over the country," he said. "If the decision-makers do not come to their senses quickly, this will soon become a strategic threat to Israel."

He added that the recent wave of terror are the cumulative result of "the wholesale release of terrorists" and "the fruit of [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas's encouragement."

MK Danny Danon (Likud) called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) and Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beytenu) to finally establish deterrence. 

"We are in an intifada," Danon fired. "I demand that the Prime Minister and Minister of Public Security clarify to our enemies that we are a sovereign State of Israel."

"Weakness has became part of the process of government decision-making," he continued. "You can whitewash words, but not whitewash policies."

"Israeli citizens look to the Prime Minister and Minister Aharonovich [for help], but do not see an iron fist against terrorists," he added. "The terrorists are dragging us into a war of attrition and the Prime Minister is about talking instead of doing." 

MK Miri Regev (Likud) agreed. 

"I call on the Prime Minister to continue to work on the terror issue on the personal level," she said. "The government needs to decide on a series of measures to be taken to return personal security to citizens of the State of Israel."

"The state cannot be in shock from the latest terror attacks," she added. "The public demands awareness."

"The security establishment must increase its presence in the field, all over the State of Israel," she continued. "Decision-makers must implement an exacting punishment for this. You must decrease terror by sending a clear message that there is law and order in Israel." 

Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett added that, as MKs have been reiterating multiple times over the past several weeks, not enough has been done to nip terror in the bud - by punishing "smaller" incidents like rock-throwing more severely. 

"This is a serious attack which proves that the concept of concrete blocks is bankrupt," he said, referring to Aharonovich's decision to put concrete blocks near the Jerusalem light rail after last week's brutal road rampage. "You cannot shield people on the street, but you can stop incitement, and throw those who hurl rocks and fireworks [at Police] and those who riot in prison. That is the correct security policy." 

Bennett added that, like Yogev, he holds Abbas personally responsible for the attack.

"Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has become the successor of Arafat, just in different clothing," he fired. "[He] is a terrorist in a suit, and we should treat him accordingly."

Deputy Education Minister MK Avi Wortzman (Jewish Home) also blamed Palestinian incitement for the stabbing. 

"A situation in which terrorism continues to raise its head all over the country is unacceptable," he said. "The sole culprit is Abbas's continuing education [incitement - ed.] for it." 

"The government of Israel will continue its stubborn fight against terrorism," he declared. "Anyone who seeks to harm the Jewish sovereignty over the country will encounter a heavy hand [against him]." 

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua) welcomed the quick response to the attack, but also apparently implicated right-wing MKs in partial responsibility for the attack - at least as much as Arab leaders. 

"We should fight against terrorism," Livni stated. "We need to understand that everything is connected - Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank [Judea-Samaria - ed.] and Tel Aviv, and there will be those who will try to take advantage of these days to market childish and irresponsible slogans [against us]. It is our responsibility to tell the truth even when it hurts."

Livni elaborated: "For some of the citizens of Israel, Arab citizens of Israel are seen as the enemy; for the Arab citizens of Israel, the government is perceived as a regime over outsiders. We must put an end to it, we must first stop it and say that responsibility rests on the shoulders of our representatives - we are the ones who need to calm the situation before it is too late, even if we say things contrary to public opinion."

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) blamed the Israeli Arab leadership for the attack. 

"The Arab leadership, who is supposed to calm tensions, incited the public [against Israel]," Liberman said. "These things need to stop and the responsibility is with leaders in the Arab sector." 

"If we talk about the political process, today it is clear that swapping land is crucial as part of an agreement," he added, referring to his "Triangle Plan" to swap Israeli Arab areas of Israel for Jewish blocs in Judea-Samaria.