Meshulam Amit, who served in the past as Border Police Commander and Police Operations Officer, told Arutz-7 today that the Ohr Commission should never have been established. "A nation at war should not be establishing committees," he said. Amit further said that the committee's generalization that there is a "culture of lying" in the police is unacceptable: "Let them state that there were 10 or 20 or even 50 cases of lying or misreporting that should be investigated - but why should the committee issue a report that stains the entire police force?!"
Amit had much to say about the committee's finding that the police erred gravely in relating to the Israeli-Arab community as an enemy:
"Did the committee not hear that the Arab villages, the source of most of the rioting, were also the source for accomplices for suicide terrorists? Did the committee not hear that they raise much money in those villages for the Hamas suicide bombers? Did it not hear that Israeli-Arabs in general, the vast majority of them, identify with the war goals of their Palestinian brethren?... The Arabs of Israel are Palestinians, and they support their brethren - whose Prime Minister is a Holocaust-denier, and whose 'moderate' Foreign Minister declares his desire to return to Haifa and Acco - and in October 2000, the Arabs of Israel stood violently behind them, with actions that were aimed at the destruction of Israel."
Amit was merely repeating positions he stated on Arutz-7 when the committee was established over two and a half years ago:
"How can there be such an inquiry while the war is still continuing? I haven't heard that the PA established a similar committee after the brutal lynching of our two soldiers in Ramallah... It's true that we should be a light unto the nations, but the light can wait until after the war is over... We must not forget that a large mob of Israeli citizens in Um el-Fahm banded together with enemy interests, blocking off main arteries of the country and cried out, 'Slaughter the Jews!' A large part of the Israeli-Arab public supports our enemies who wish to see the destruction of the State of Israel... We must not forget that the background of the Arab violence is not perceived Arab deprivation, but rather their national struggle..."
Amit said today that the main fault of the report is that it did not clearly warn the Israeli-Arab public of the repercussions if it should again riot in this manner in the name of an entity - the Palestinian Authority - that is hostile to Israel and in a manner that endangers the Israeli public.
Amit had much to say about the committee's finding that the police erred gravely in relating to the Israeli-Arab community as an enemy:
"Did the committee not hear that the Arab villages, the source of most of the rioting, were also the source for accomplices for suicide terrorists? Did the committee not hear that they raise much money in those villages for the Hamas suicide bombers? Did it not hear that Israeli-Arabs in general, the vast majority of them, identify with the war goals of their Palestinian brethren?... The Arabs of Israel are Palestinians, and they support their brethren - whose Prime Minister is a Holocaust-denier, and whose 'moderate' Foreign Minister declares his desire to return to Haifa and Acco - and in October 2000, the Arabs of Israel stood violently behind them, with actions that were aimed at the destruction of Israel."
Amit was merely repeating positions he stated on Arutz-7 when the committee was established over two and a half years ago:
"How can there be such an inquiry while the war is still continuing? I haven't heard that the PA established a similar committee after the brutal lynching of our two soldiers in Ramallah... It's true that we should be a light unto the nations, but the light can wait until after the war is over... We must not forget that a large mob of Israeli citizens in Um el-Fahm banded together with enemy interests, blocking off main arteries of the country and cried out, 'Slaughter the Jews!' A large part of the Israeli-Arab public supports our enemies who wish to see the destruction of the State of Israel... We must not forget that the background of the Arab violence is not perceived Arab deprivation, but rather their national struggle..."
Amit said today that the main fault of the report is that it did not clearly warn the Israeli-Arab public of the repercussions if it should again riot in this manner in the name of an entity - the Palestinian Authority - that is hostile to Israel and in a manner that endangers the Israeli public.