Barak to reconvene 'West Bank forum' following settler rampage
Saturday's rampage through Palestinian village prompts defense minister to reconvene forum tasked with quelling rise in settler lawlessness. Security officials: Justice system also at fault
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has decided to reconvene the "West Bank Forum" to tackle the surge in Jewish lawlessness in the territories.
The decision was reached in the wake of Saturday's settler rampage through the village of Asira al-Kabiliya after a Palestinian man stabbed a 9-year-old boy at the settlement of Shalhevet, near Yitzhar.
During Sunday's cabinet meeting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, "The phenomenon of taking the law into one's hands and violent and brutal rioting is intolerable, and will receive an immediate response by the law enforcement authorities.
"There will be no pogroms against non-Jewish residents in the State of Israel," he said.
The decision to reconvene the forum, which consists of Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin, IDF Central Command chief Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni and senior Israel Police officers, was also based on security establishment data indicating a sharp increase in disturbances in the West Bank since June.
'State ignoring settler disturbances'
Meanwhile, the Shin Bet has increased its intelligence activity within a number of settler groups, though it does not appear that settlers looking to harm their Palestinian neighbors are as organized as the "Jewish Underground", which was formed by prominent members of the Israeli political movement Gush Emunim and existed from 1979 to 1984.
According to security officials, the trend began following the violent evacuation of the illegal outpost of Amona in 2006.
The forum will be tasked with finding ways to prevent settlers from avenging any Palestinian attacks and harming the Palestinian residents of the West Bank.
According to security establishment officials, the State Prosecutor's Office and the Justice system in general are not prosecuting settlers who harm Palestinians or damage their property to the full extent of the law.
The forum is also expected to review complaints filed by human rights groups claiming that Israel's law enforcement authorities are ignoring settler disturbances and disregard complaints that are lodged in their aftermath.
