THE HEBRON HEADACHE

While its unclear to what extent the mourners of Elazar Leibovitz were incited (I've tried to piece together what really happened from the conflicting reports in the Times, Ha'aretz, JPost and settler-phillic Arutz-Sheva), there is no excuse for their actions. Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit must back up his pledge to deal with the rioters "with a heavy hand." Vigilante action is unacceptable. There is only one Israeli Defense Force - that has been settled since the dawn of the state.

Punishing those who screamed "Death to Arabs", while firing at random and overturning market stalls, is insufficient. Serious thought, however, has to be given to extracting the settlers from Hebron. Anyone who had read Genesis is fully aware that this is not a statement for a religious Jew to make lightly. Hebron is not Gaza - there is very much a deep historic and religious connection between the city and the Jewish people. It is the parcel of land purchased by Abraham in the Bible - it was the capital before Jerusalem, it is the resting place of the Patriarchs. But this is still insufficient justification to demand subjugation of 100,000 Arabs for the benefit of 400 Jews. It is even less, when those 400 Jews to dominate the affairs of the 100,000 Arab residents of the city.
Even worse is when those 400 Jews are the adherents of a militant messianism that Judaism had been spared of for almost 2,000 years. Israel needs to face this headache sooner or later. It might as well do so from a position of relative strength.