PM: People quick to slam terror against Palestinians, not against Jews

People are quick to condemn terrorist attacks against Palestinian victims but slow to do the same when Jews are the target, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, shortly after three Israeli soldiers were wounded when a Palestinian man plowed his car into them in the West Bank.

“I would like to praise the action of the IDF soldiers who reacted quickly and neutralized the terrorist, and to wish a full recovery to the injured,” he said.

But, he added, “I find it strange that those who hastened to condemn terrorism against Palestinians are silent when terrorism is directed against Jews.”

Two of the wounded soldiers were taken to Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem neighborhood, both in serious condition; the third — with light-moderate wounds — was taken to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.

There was wide praise for the Israeli troops who swiftly ended the attack by opening fire on the driver. He lost control of the car which then flipped over. The driver is now in Shaare Zedek Hospital in serious condition.

“I am proud of our soldiers who reacted immediately and hit the terrorist,” President Reuven Rivlin said. “I support the prime minister and the security establishment in the fight for our right to lead normal lives, and wish and pray for the health and safety of the injured.”

He vowed that “there will be no tolerance for terrorism” in Israel.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon also said after the attack that Israel would meet Palestinian terrorism with “an iron fist” and “zero tolerance.”

Israel “employs its top people and capabilities to prevent terror attacks,” he said, and is mostly successful in thwarting attacks that target “Jews just because they are Jews.”

Unfortunately, he said, “sometimes the terrorists achieve their goals.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan called for stringent measures against terrorists, and suggested that Israel adopt a policy of deporting the families of terrorists, Army Radio reported.

Palestinian terror group Hamas praised the attack in a post on its Twitter account, calling it “a natural response to the occupation and the settlers in the West Bank,” Channel 10 television reported.

The Zionist Union said in a statement that Netanyahu “must restore security for the citizens of Israel.”

The party also commended soldiers at the scene who shot the assailant, calling the attack “a vile terrorist incident.”

It called on the military to find and capture any other individuals involved in the attack “so that every terrorist knows that the State of Israel will not allow any terrorist to escape.”

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Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni also praised the soldiers for their actions in bringing the attack to a swift end.

“That is the way to act against terror,” she wrote in a post to her Twitter feed. “I hope, along with the whole country, that those injured have a speed recovery.”

In a post on Facebook, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman called on Netanyahu and Ya’alon to intensify measures to prevent attacks.

“The prime minister and the defense minister are not acting decisively against terrorism and are not deterring [terrorists], but rather the opposite.”

Liberman commended the military forces at the scene for “responding correctly and shooting the terrorist.”

In a parallel development police stopped a suspicious vehicle on the Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv, citing security concerns. Traffic on the major traffic artery was stopped during the incident but the road reopened shortly afterwards. Two people were detained for questioning, Channel 2 said.

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The leader of the left wing Meretz party, MK Zahava Gal-on, condemned the attack as “a shocking attempt at murder” and called on Netanyahu to defeat terror by re-staring peace talks with the Palestinians.

“In order to eradicate the motivation for terror, in order to lower the flames and to create a hope for the millions of people living here the prime minister must switch disc and understand that the end to the conflict with the Palestinians is first of all an Israeli interest, and to re-start negotiations.”