Tel-Chai Nation

The Israeli government is launching an index of Fatah's anti-Israel incitement:

The Security Cabinet decided Sunday to establish an index that would monitor Palestinian Authority incitement against Israel and the Jewish people. The "Culture of Peace and Incitement Index" was developed by professional Government and security establishment elements.

The announcement is linked to the horrific massacre in Itamar, which the government sees as resulting from PA incitement. Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Sunday that continued PA incitement would makes any agreement signed by it worthless.

The Index considers four main issues: Explicit incitement to violence, encouraging an atmosphere of violence and terrorism, incitement to hatred and demonization, and the failure to prepare people for positive processes.

It was agreed that the Index would be constantly updated and presented in various forums in order to influence the Palestinian Authority to stop its ubiquitous incitement to, and education for, violence.

The high-profile establishment of the Index could signal a shift in official Israeli policy vis-a-vis the PA. Israelis who favor appeasing the PA tend to ignore incitement activity, focusing instead on actual terror acts. These are usually not officially authorized by the PA, and are often carried out by groups whose connection to the PA leadership is difficult to prove. Moving the focus to incitement lays the blame for terror directly at the PA's doorstep and could put an end to the terrorist's shell game regarding responsibilty for the actual attacks.

I take it this will be a special website, but so far, I can't tell if there is one yet. But when there is, either me or anyone else who knows about it should announce it at once.

Update: Knesset member Tzipi Hotovely has made an important point: a palestinian state must be taken off the agenda.

MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) said on Sunday that in the wake of Friday night’s massacre of the Fogel family in Itamar, the idea of a Palestinian state must be taken off the agenda.

“The Itamar attack should be an event that causes soul-searching within the government and a significant change of direction in relation to the Palestinian Authority,” Hotovely said during an interview with Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew website.

Hotovely welcomed the government’s decision, which was made following the Itamar murders, to approve construction of five hundred new housing units in major population centers in Judea and Samaria. She defined the decision as one that goes in the right direction, but added that it is not enough. “Hundreds of housing units in the so-called settlement blocs is not a statement that clearly strengthens our hold in the country,” she said.

Hotovely said that she expects Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “to strengthen the construction in Itamar in particular and in Judea and Samaria in general, and more importantly – to announce that a Palestinian state is not on the agenda. A Palestinian state means more cases like Itamar.”

Absolutely correct.

Labels: anti-semitism, islam, Israel, jihad, terrorism, war on terror