Outgoing Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot called for the need to fight Jewish terror like any other form of terrorism.
He said those who stand behind Jewish terror are "a small minority who are racist to their religion and whose activity targets Arabs and challenges the Israeli army, police, state institutions and law."
The Israeli army’s first task in the West Bank should be providing security, foiling terrorist operations and protecting Palestinian citizens from the terrorists and their grave attacks, said Eisenkot.
He warned that Jewish extremist violence could spark intense unrest in the West Bank, noting a significant rise in what he called “nationalistic crime.”
He strongly criticized the Israeli leadership and law enforcement agencies, including the judiciary, because "they do not take a firm stand against violence against Israeli military and security elements during the evacuation of random outposts."
Military sources explained that Eisenkot’s choice to tackle this issue in his last statements before his retirement Tuesday acts as “evidence that Jewish terror attacks now pose a threat to the army’s authority and security and stability in the West Bank in general."
Moreover, Israeli intelligence sources warned of Jewish terrorism after 2018 witnessed a spike in such activity and violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank compared to previous years.
They warned that the extremist settler gangs could adopt an even more extreme ideology that they could translate into large-scale terrorist attacks.
The same sources cited with concern a court decision to release four out of five suspects linked to the killing of a Palestinian mother Shadia Mohammed al-Rabi on October 13. The release took place amid investigations that speak of the existence of a new secret Jewish terrorist organization that can be added to other groups that are active on Palestinian territories.
An Israeli security official said that these gangs feel that they are above the law, warning that “everything could end in bloodshed.”
