Lieberman: Israel Should Shoot Stone-Throwers as ‘Terrorists’

Insists Only Shootings Can Stop 'Arab Rioters'

Avigdor Lieberman, the once and likely future Foreign Minister of Israel, has pressed newly appointed Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to radically redefine the rules of engagement for the military in the occupied West Bank, encouraging them to shoot stone-throwers as “terrorists.”

Israeli human rights groups have spent the past few months complaining that the military is already violating its rules of engagement by regularly shooting stone-throwers, even though the rules explicitly ban doing so.

The sudden interest in extra shootings came after an incident last week in which a stone thrower caused a crash which badly injured an Israeli family, including a three year old girl.

Lieberman insists that in the wake of the incident Israel should treat any stone throwing as identical to firing a gun, and that shooting stone throwers as a general rule in the only thing that can stop “the Arab rioters.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.