On June 30, just hours before the official announcement that the bodies of the three abducted teens had been found, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a few words to say at the start of the Likud-Beitenu Knesset faction’s weekly meeting. He devoted his comments to his disappointment with the leadership of the Israeli Arab public for failing to condemn the abduction, saying, “They weren’t even willing to say what [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas said.” He then recalled the violent demonstration in the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, which took place just a few days earlier to protest Israel Defense Forces (IDF) activities in the West Bank while searching for the teens. Arab Knesset members attended the event, where calls went out to abduct Israeli soldiers.
It was not by chance that Netanyahu focused on the Arab leadership’s indifferent attitude toward the abduction. Assessments of the situation, coupled with intelligence reports, indicate that groups within the Arab sector in Israel are undergoing radicalization, and that this could lead to a significant outbreak of violence. Netanyahu asked that responsibility for this be placed squarely on the official Arab leadership. He also announced that he was examining the possibility of outlawing the northern branch of the Islamic Movement.
