Following a spate of “price tag” attacks against Arab communities and Muslim and Christian religious sites by radical right-wing groups, the foreign affairs and security Cabinet met in June 2013 to discuss ways of curbing this phenomenon. These acts consisted mostly of attacking Palestinian property, painting insulting graffiti on holy Christian and Muslim sites, setting fire to such buildings and committing other forms of vandalism, both in Israel and the West Bank.

In addition to the assault on freedom of worship and the damage to Israel’s image, these hate crimes greatly troubled various security agencies, especially due to their potential to spin out of control, escalate and result in a regional conflagration if the Temple Mount were attacked, for instance.

Participants at that 2013 Cabinet meeting discussed the demand made by then-Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, then-Minister of Internal Security Yitzhak Aharonovich and the head of the Shin Bet security service, Yoram Cohen, to designate “price tag” activists as members of a terrorist organization. A decision of that sort can be taken by the government only, according to the 1948 Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance. (Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the Kach movement are designated terror groups by the power of such a decision.) They argued that such a move would have a deterrent effect.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reluctant to take such a dramatic step. Political pressure from the right, from the settlement leadership and HaBayit HaYehudi Party, among others, resulted in a much softer move: The defense minister was authorized to declare “price tag” activism “an unlawful association.” This enabled authorities to confiscate their property, real estate or bank accounts.