Netanyahu plays tough on rock hurlers

JERUSALEM. — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday that Israel is toughening its war on rock throwers. The decision was taken several days after an Israeli man was killed in Jerusalem by Palestinians hurling stones at his vehicle.

Netanyahu toured the Armon Hanetziv neighbourhood in southeast Jerusalem, where 64-year-old Alexander Levlovich died Sunday after losing control of his vehicle as it was pelted with stones, near the east Jerusalem Palestinian village of Zur Baher.

Netanyahu told reporters that the new policy includes a number of measures against Palestinian stone-throwers, including altering open-fire orders, increasing minimum sentence penalties, as well as imposing fines on families of stone-throwing youths.

“We are changing policies. The current situation is unacceptable and we plan to equip soldiers and police officers to act sternly against stone and fire bombs throwers,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday, according to a statement issued by his office.

He said that throwing stones is “not manslaughter, but murder” adding that the new procedures will be deployed throughout Jerusalem and its environs, in addition to northern and southern Israel.

Netanyahu met with his security cabinet on Tuesday to discuss security escalation in Jerusalem following Sunday’s incident, in addition to the numerous days of unrest in the Holy site of Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where dozens of Palestinians and Israeli police officers were wounded, and over 20 Palestinians were arrested.

As of yesterday, clashes resumed on a smaller scale, though no injuries or arrests were reported as of press time.

In Tuesday’s meeting, Netanyahu said that stone throwers will be met with “stern punitive and preventive measures” and that Israel would “lead systematic changes and set new deterrence and preventative standards.”

Public Security Minister, Gilad Erdan, told Army Radio Wednesday that the surge in violence is not considered an “intifada” (referring to Palestinian armed uprising that took place in 1987 and 2000) rather a “gradual rise over the years” of similar attacks, calling for stricter measures against stone throwers. — Xinhua.