PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat on Monday slammed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu after he said that “terror” committed by Jews and Palestinians were not comparable.
“Mr. Netanyahu is claiming that the killing of any human being by a Jew is not comparable to the killing of a Jew by a non-Jew,” Erekat said in a statement.
The PLO official said that Netanyahu’s assertion of incitement by the Palestinian Authority for violence against Israel was null and void in lieu of Israel’s continual use of “terror against the Palestinian people.”
“Mr. Netanyahu’s referral to ‘Palestinian incitement’ as an excuse for Israeli terrorism is a further attempt at erasing his political and legal responsibility as the head of a belligerent occupier that violates the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people on daily basis, including its very right to be free.
Discussing the "difference" between "Jewish terror and Arab terror" during a weekly cabinet meetingearlier this week the Israeli PM said: "Here we condemn and they [the Palestinians] praise," according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
Netanyahu stated that while Israeli leadership condemned terror attacks carried out by Jews, the Palestinian Authority “encourages terror and incites.”
The PM’s statement came amid growing focus on Israelis affiliated with Jewish terror organizations that many argue are gaining influence over Israeli government policy.
Ongoing investigations into the murder of three members of the Palestinian Dawabsha family by Jewish extremists as well as video footage released from an Israeli wedding party celebrating violence against Palestinians has been at the epicenter of Israeli public discussion.
Erekat said that Netanyahu’s refusal to acknowledge terrorism committed by the Israeli government was “probably why the terrorists who killed the Dawabsha family haven’t been arrested just as the Abu Khdeir family is still waiting for a ruling over the terrorists who burnt alive their 16 years old son, Mohammad.”
The international community has in the past criticized Israel for government policies that encourage violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians as well as “foot-dragging” in bringing the perpetrators of the Dawabsha murders to justice.
Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet meanwhile has received push-back from right-wing groups over its conduct in the investigation of the case.
The Shin Bet earlier this month warned that the case revealed the growing threat of Jewish terror organizations against the Israeli state as well as regional security.
Focus on the growing influence of Israeli extremist groups coincides with a wave of violence that has left over 140 Palestinians and 20 Israelis dead since Oct. 1.
The majority of Palestinians were killed while carrying out attacks on Israeli military and civilians. Palestinian leadership has yet to condemn the individual attacks but has criticized Israel for its response to the recent violence.
