Bennett: Anyone who assists terrorists will ‘pay a heavy price’

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praises security forces for finding and eliminating the terrorist that carried out last night’s shooting attack in Tel Aviv, but says forces remain on high alert.

“This is exactly what is expected from our fighters,” Bennett says in a live address from military headquarters in Tel Aviv. “If they wouldn’t have caught him and took him down now, this could have stretched out for several days.”

Despite that, he says, “we’re not lowering our alert level in Tel Aviv or across Israel.”

Bennett says there will be no restrictions on security forces who are fighting terror.

“We grant full freedom of action to the IDF, the Shin Bet and all security forces in order to eradicate terrorism. There are and will be, no restrictions in this war,” Bennett says.

Bennett sends condolences to the families of the two young men who were killed, and well wishes to those who were wounded. He vows that terrorists will face the consequences of their actions.

“We know that it was a 29-year-old terrorist, from Jenin, not affiliated to a [terror] group, but somebody helped him in organizing and obtaining the weapons,” Bennett says.

“Every murderer knows we will find them, everyone who helps a terrorist should know that they will pay a heavy price,” Bennett says. “We saw the celebrations in Jenin and Gaza, this is who we’re dealing with.”

Bennett says that such terrorists and their supporters “want to break our spirits, but they will not succeed, we will never break.”

He also calls on media outlets to act responsibly, implicitly critical of aspects of the coverage from Israeli news networks last night. “Do not sow unnecessary panic in the public, this isn’t a reality show, but our life.”