Senior officials within the security sector are blaming government ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, along with members of their parties (Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit), for providing "moral support to the rioters" who rampaged in Huwara following the terrorist shooting attack that claimed the lives of the two brothers, Hillel and Yagel Yaniv, and also for the general deterioration in the security situation in Judea and Samaria. According to a report published in Israel Hayom, one senior security official claimed that, "The events in Huwara were organized [and not spontaneous]. Young people arrived armed with firebombs that had been prepared in advance. They came to kill. Only a miracle spared this from becoming a Baruch Goldstein II," he added, referring to Goldstein's shooting and killing dozens of Arabs in the Cave of the Patriarchs in 1994. "The sharp rise in concrete warnings of impending revenge attacks following what happened in Huwara is only part of the problem," he continued, explaining that those who went on the rampage in Huwara "knew that they enjoyed the support of senior officials in the political echelon who would not allow anyone to lay a hand on them." As evidence for his theory, the official pointed to the fact that just seven Jews have thus far been detained for interrogation on suspicion that they took part in the violent events. "Six of those seven were immediately released. Now we're relying on intelligence from the Shabak to apprehend those who took part." Related articles: Terrorist who fired at IDF troops arrested a year after attack Moshe "Musa" Horn named as victim of shooting attack One murdered in terror attack near Yokne'am Armed terrorist runs, shoots, and is shot Another security official quoted in the report said that National Security Minister Ben-Gvir "is promoting anarchy on the ground," highlighting Ben-Gvir's visit to the Samarian community of Evyatar, accompanied by members of his party. "The soldiers and police officers posted there showed him the military order declaring the area a closed military zone and prohibiting the entry of civilians, but Ben-Gvir thumbed his nose at them and entered, along with members of his party. The message he gave to those soldiers and police officers was that politicians don't obey the law; they do whatever they please. Worse still, they broke the chain of command, because those police officers who received orders from their senior commanders telling them to prevent the entry of civilians then saw the minister appointed over the police force himself transgressing those orders." The official added that, "We can't carry on like this for much longer. The country is on fire, and instead of chasing the gangs responsible for the latest attacks, we're having to siphon off manpower to deal with Jews and Knesset members who are fanning the flames." According to data cited by the official, the number of violent incidents committed by Jews living in Judea and Samaria has doubled this year in comparison to the number in 2021, with a sharp spike in such incidents in recent days and weeks that has included an increase in the number of attacks openly targeting IDF soldiers and police. Stating that the security forces have no solution to this phenomenon, he added that the fact that the attackers feel that they have the support of senior political figures only makes things worse and expressed his concern that further escalation lay ahead. "If in the past such incidents mainly consisted of youngsters throwing stones at Palestinian cars, today the level of violence is far higher and the danger many times greater," he concluded.
