PM says Israel will ‘act with full force against riots against Palestinians and soldiers’

Speaking to his cabinet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasts violence carried out by Jewish extremists in the West Bank.

Israel, he says, “will act with full force against the riots against IDF soldiers — against Palestinians, and against IDF soldiers — because we are a state of law, and a state of law acts according to the law.”

Netanyahu calls the extremists “a minority that goes into Judea and Samaria and does not represent the large community of law-abiding, loyal settlers.”

Settler violence has been occurring on a near-daily basis in the West Bank with little to no law enforcement to stop attacks on Palestinians.

Netanyahu also rejects violence against elected officials.

“Just yesterday there was violence of this sort against our colleague, MK [Yoav] Ben Tzur,” he says, referring to attacks last night by Haredi youths. “This is a very small minority; it does not represent the ultra-Orthodox public. But we must fight these violations of the law with full force, and that is what we will do.”

Netanyahu says that he expects elections to be held at the end of the coming year, amid speculation that his government could collapse before the end of its term or that he could call early elections.