Lieberman promises to respond to terror with ‘severe measures’

Israel’s new Defence Minister visited the site of a Tel Aviv terror attack that killed four Israelis, promising “severe measures” in response.

TIsrael’s new Defence Minister visited the site of a Tel Aviv terror attack that killed four Israelis, promising “severe measures” in response.

The shooting, carried out by two West Bank Palestinians, targeted a crowded tourist and restaurant district in the heart of Tel Aviv and was among the deadliest and most brazen attacks in a nine-month wave of violence. The area is located across the street from the Israeli military’s headquarters.

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to meet with his Security Cabinet to discuss further responses, the Israeli military announced that it was deploying two additional battalions to the West Bank “in accordance with situation assessments”. The deployment, involving hundreds of troops, includes soldiers from infantry and special forces units.

Among the participants in the Security Cabinet meeting was Israel’s new defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of an ultranationalist party known for his hard-line views toward the Palestinians. Before the meeting, Lieberman visited the site of the shooting and had a cup of coffee in a local cafe.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: ‘We will respond with more than just words to terror attack”

Lieberman praised Tel Aviv residents for carrying on with normal lives after the deadly terror attack, and promised to take “severe measures”

Speaking in Tel Aviv, Lieberman said, “Please allow me to express my condolences to the families and wish the wounded a speedy recovery. I came to salute the residents of Tel Aviv who have had to deal with yet another serious incident. Despite this, they want to return to regular life and prove that life is stronger.”

“I don’t intend to elaborate on the steps which we will be taking and I definitely don’t intend to make do with words only,” Lieberman declared.

Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon said the body’s “failure to condemn Palestinian terror means the next attack is only a matter of time.’

Earlier on Thursday, defence officials suspended tens of thousands of special permits given to Palestinians to visit Israel during the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

COGAT, an Israeli defence body, said 83,000 permits for Palestinians in the West Bank to visit relatives in Israel had been frozen. Special Ramadan permits were also suspended for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to visit relatives in Israel, travel abroad and attend prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, COGAT said.

Israel considers the Ramadan permits a goodwill gesture toward Palestinians.

In addition, the military said it had frozen Israeli work permits for 204 of the attackers’ relatives, and was preventing Palestinians from leaving and entering the West Bank village of Yatta, the attackers’ home village. COGAT said entering or leaving will only be permitted for humanitarian and medical cases.

The military was also making preparations to demolish the family home of one of the attackers. Israel often responds to attacks by demolishing the homes of the assailants or their relatives – a tactic that is criticised by the Palestinians and human rights groups as collective punishment.

Earlier on Thursday President Rivlin visited the wounded from yesterday’s terror attck at Sarona at Ichilov hospital and visited Sarona too.

In Tel Aviv, extra police units were mobilised, mainly around the city’s central bus station and train stations, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

The “Sarona” compound, the scene of Wednesday’s shooting, quickly reopened.

In the attack, two Palestinians dressed in black suits opened fire at the Max Brenner restaurant in Sarona, killing four Israelis and wounding nine others.

Sarona, home to dozens of shops, cafes and restaurants, is one of Tel Aviv’s most population destinations and is often crowded with visitors and soldiers in uniform taking a break from their duties at the nearby headquarters.

Police identified the victims as Michael Feige, 58, a sociologist and anthropologist at Ben-Gurion University, and Ido Ben Arieh, 42, a veteran of an elite army unit who was an executive at the Coca-Cola Co’s Israel branch, his wife, who was injured in the attack, told Israeli media. Two other victims were identified as Ilana Naveh, 39, and Mila Misheiv, 32.

Police said the two gunmen in their twenties were members of the same family from the Palestinian village of Yatta, near the West Bank city of Hebron, which has been a flashpoint for violence in recent months. One gunman was injured and was being treated in an Israeli hospital. The other was apprehended by security.

Israeli security officials said the weapons were crudely improvised, indicating that a militant organisation was not involved. They said the attackers did not have special Ramadan permits allowing them to enter Israel, but that they had sneaked into Israel illegally to carry out the assault, according to initial assessments.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, welcomed the attack but did not claim responsibility. Hamas official Mushir al-Masri called the shootings a “heroic operation” and the group later issued an official statement promising the “Zionists” more “surprises” during Ramadan.

Islamic Jihad, another militant group, called the shooting a “natural response” to Israel’s “brutal actions” against Palestinians. But it also did not claim responsibility for the attack.

Over the last eight months Palestinians have carried out dozens of attacks on civilians and security forces, mostly stabbings, shootings and car ramming assaults that have killed 32 Israelis and two Americans. About 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time, most identified as attackers by Israel. The assaults were once near-daily incidents but they have become less frequent in recent weeks.

Most of the attacks have been in east Jerusalem or the West Bank, territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and which the Palestinians want for their future state.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned Wednesday’s attack.

“Murder and terror are completely without justification and cannot be used as an instrument of political disagreement,” said Mr Steinmeier.