The wave of death, violence, fear and anger that erupted when two Israeli brothers, Hallel and Yagel Yaniv yeshiva students, were shot dead while driving in the West Bank town of Huwara, is expected to have ended the murder of suspected terrorist gunman yesterday by Israeli security units during a raid on Jenin.
The dead Hamas assassin got what he wanted when he murdered the Yaniv brothers last week: Outraged Israelis descended on Huwara in a rampage, disrupting the Palestinian population, injuring many and destroying property, prompting the head of the Central Command , Major General Yehuda Fuchs, said on television: “The incident in Hawara was a pogrom.”
Jews know what pogroms are and the outbreak of Huwara was a shameful response to an act of terror and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a man in a position of great public confidence, made it worse by saying that the Israelis should “finish off the Huwara people today.” Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu rightly slapped him and apologized, but his gasoline was already on the fire.
As the strongest force in the area, the Israeli army should have kept order and prevented riots, regardless of whether the rioters were Jews or Arabs.
The Hamas terrorist gunman, not the Huwara residents trying to get on with their lives, murdered the Yaniv brothers. Before getting what he deserved by being sent in by Israeli weapons, he must have enjoyed the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians that he had fanned, aided by hotheads on the Israeli side like Smotrich.
Netanyahu, fighting a major internal political battle over the powers of the independent judiciary (and his own lingering legal problems), really wants a peace deal with the Saudis, and the Saudis want him to make a deal with the Palestinians, as he should if any time they return to the negotiating table. The more deals the better for all parties (except Hamas) and that is the way to build a better future for both Jews and Arabs in the Holy Land.
