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Yesha leaders and residents from Yehuda and Shomron on Sunday morning arrived outside the Prime Minister’s Residence to begin their protest, demanding improved security in Yesha areas. They feel the government is being too light-handed in dealing with Arab terror, and they are also demanding the government legalize homes that were built years ago but now their owners find themselves in a legal turmoil, both in Yishuv Ofra and Yishuv Eli. They are demanding the return of roadblocks and checkpoints on area roads, that prevented terror attacks in the past but have been removed.

Among the leaders taking part in the protest were Yossi Dagan, who heads the Shomron Regional Council, Yisrael Gantz, who heads the Binyamin Regional Council, Shlomo Neeman, who heads the Gush Etzion Regional Council and Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Ze’ev Elkin.

Dagan said, “Mr. Prime Minister, we are done remaining silent. On Thursday, you announced the homes of the terrorists would be destroyed within 48 hours, a demand we made years ago. Why did we have to pay the price, an infant three-days-old? Blood of soldiers, for you to say something that is self-evident? Why most of the public does not believe your declaration?

The leaders are calling on the government to permit the IDF to ‘take the gloves off’ and begin getting tough against terror as the situation demands.

At the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated the following in front of the media: Following the wave of murderous terrorist attacks in Yehuda and Shomron last week we have taken vigorous security and settlement actions. Our forces located and eliminated two of the terrorists and a third turned himself in. Regarding the fourth, we are taking decisive action to find him, and we will also deal with him to the fullest extent of the law. I ordered the acceleration of the demolition of terrorists’ homes. We have revoked work permits for terrorists’ clans and in contrast to what has hitherto been the case, as Defense Minister I have ordered that the permits not be automatically restored after the revocation period. I sent a clear message to Hamas: We will not accept a situation in which there is a ceasefire in Gaza and terrorism in Yehuda and Shomron. We will exact a heavy price for this.

“I have directed that the status of thousands of homes in settlements in Yehuda and Shomron be legalized, that two new industrial zones be established near Avnei Chefetz and Betar Illit respectively, and that 82 new residential units be approved in Ofra. There will be other steps.

“The Palestinian terrorists think that they can uproot us from the heart of our land. By our actions and the strength of our spirit we will make it clear to them and to the entire world that we are here to stay.

“I recently read a cogent remark by the noted American human rights leader Martin Luther King: ‘When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism.’

“I commend my friend Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, under whose leadership the EU has called for the adoption of this definition of Martin Luther King – anti-Zionism is an expression of anti-Semitism. Nobody can say that they are not against Americans, but they just think that America shouldn’t exist, just as nobody can say that they are not against Jews, but they think that the state of the Jews does not need to exist. I thank the Austrian Chancellor for working to expose this absurdity and to precisely define anti-Zionism as a type of anti-Semitism…”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)