Livni: Line between extremists and mainstream blurred long ago

Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni said Tuesday that a spate of hate crimes in recent days, one of which killed a Palestinian toddler, could not be solely blamed on those on the margins of society, because the line between the extremists and those in the mainstream was blurred by the government long ago.

Livni, speaking at an emergency Knesset session called in response to the attacks, charged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has allowed Jewish extremists to take over the public agenda and accused right-wing ministers and MKs of downplaying their role in creating an atmosphere where Jewish extremism has been tolerated.

“It’s the easiest thing to come and say ‘it’s the extremists, we have no part in this.’ This is unacceptable. Extremists exist only when there is a clear line between them and the mainstream. This line was blurred long ago, with the help of those here [in the Knesset],” Livni said at an emergency parliamentary session in the wake of the attacks.

“The reason the lines were blurred is because there is no authority here. There is no [real] prime minister in Israel… when he has for years refused to mark the line between extremists and those in the center and when he has allowed these extremists to take over the public agenda,” she charged.

Livni’s comments came after two terror attacks last week shook Israel. On Friday, 18-month-old Palestinian toddler Ali Dawabsha was burned to death and his family members were left fighting for their lives after their family home in the West Bank village of Duma was attacked by suspected Jewish extremists armed with Molotov cocktails. A day earlier, six people were stabbed at the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade by an ultra-Orthodox man who had previously served 10 years in prison for a similar attack in 2005. One of his victims, a 16-year-old girl, Shira Banki, died of her wounds on Sunday.

The attacks drew condemnation across the political spectrum, including by right-wing parliamentarians who branded them terrorism.

But opposition members took aim at right-wing opponents, accusing them of turning a blind eye to the growing threat of Jewish terrorists and even fueling the flames of incitement against Palestinians.