Ministers decry ‘terrorism’ by activists for hostages, blame it on ‘pyromaniac’ AG, High Court

Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet slam anti-government protesters over the torching of bins, cars and tires in Jerusalem, with several blaming the arson on the High Court of Justice and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Activists set several recycling bins alight near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home, damaging cars in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood, and burned tires near the Prime Minister’s office in the Givat Ram neighborhood.

“What is happening this morning has one name: terrorism,” declares Justice Minister Yariv Levin, insisting that responsibility for the incidents is shared by an attorney general “who dictates criminal selective enforcement, and the High Court judges who stand by her and try to force her continued tenure on the government and the entire public.”

“Today’s events once again illustrate the duty of the entire government to stand behind the decision to dismiss Baharav-Miara and complete the appointment of David Zini as head of the Shin Bet. This is the path that will lead to prosecuting the arsonists and those who incited them. This is the path to putting an end to lawlessness in the streets,” Levin states.

In a post on X, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana insists that “the despicable criminals who set Jerusalem ablaze today and seek to set the entire country on fire would have been arrested and punished to the fullest extent of the law if they had set fires near the home of Mrs. Baharav-Miara, one of the Supreme Court justices, or the State Prosecutor.”

However, “the system responsible for law enforcement has been hijacked by a pyromaniac who has not the slightest connection to the rule of law,” Ohana writes.

Sharing a picture of a burnt bin and car on X, Culture Minister Miki Zohar calls to take a “firm hand” against “violent rioters,” arguing that “the enemy is rubbing its hands with pleasure at these images, and we must not allow that to happen.”

Transportation Minister Miri Regev declares that protests by “the left” have spiraled out of control and “turned into violent, dangerous and inconceivable behavior.”

“This is no longer freedom of expression; this is thuggish violence reminiscent of the methods of terrorist organizations,” Regev tweets. “I expect the police, the attorney general, and the State Prosecutor’s Office to stop this lawlessness, enforce the law, and put an end to the riots. This violence endangers human lives, the security of the prime minister and his family, and this is crossing a red line that must not be allowed to pass in silence.”

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, one of the most vocal advocates for firing Baharav-Miara, calls the arson “anarchy and civil terrorism… with the encouragement of the former attorney general and her deafening silence in the face of criminals and lawbreakers from the left.”