Far-right minister accuses Shin Bet chief of inflating seriousness of settler violence

Shin Bet chief David Zini and Settlements Minister Orit Strock engaged in a bitter argument over West Bank violence in last night’s cabinet meeting, according to Hebrew media reports.

Strock, from the far-right Religious Zionist party, told Zini that he describes the current situation in the West Bank “as if the Arabs are all sweetness and light, and only the settlers are the problematic ones.”

“The Palestinians do not burn the homes of Jews,” Zini fired back, referring to a string of attacks by Jewish extremists on Palestinian towns.

“You are disconnected from reality,” he continued, telling Strock that “We need to see condemnations and denunciations from the entire leadership. This harms the settlement movement and harms security.”

Strock told him that everyone in a leadership position has condemned the violence.

“I don’t understand who else he wants to condemn it,” she said, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

“The entire settlement leadership opposes and condemns this kind of violence,” she said. “All the regional council heads and rabbis have issued calls against it.”

Zini pushed back, asking when she condemned Jewish violence in the West Bank.

“I condemn it everywhere,” she claimed. “On Reshet Bet. On Army Radio. Just listen.”