The prime minister came out in defense of the "settler" public and said that this population has been suffering from violence and terrorism on a daily basis for years. Bennett made the remarks in response to a tweet in which Interior Minister Bar-Lev condemned "settler violence" to a U.S. State Department spokeswoman.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett defended the settlers today (Tuesday) and said that they suffer from violence and terrorism, in response to the remarks of Interior Minister Omar Bar-Lev against violence by settlers in Judea and Samaria.
Bennett wrote on Twitter: "Settlers in Judea and Samaria suffer from violence and terrorism. Every day, for decades. They are the protective wall of us all and we must strengthen and support them, in words and deeds. "There are marginal effects in every public, they must be treated by all means, but we must not generalize an entire public," he noted.
Bar-Lev has already been criticized by the right for his statement and earlier today he responded to it. "I understand that it is really difficult for some of you who put a mirror in front of your face that extremist settler violence crosses the whole world and foreign governments are interested in the issue," Bar-Lev wrote on Twitter. "I recommend for those who have difficulty, to drink a glass of water," he added.
The storm began following a tweet posted yesterday by the minister on Twitter in which he said he met with Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State, and wrote that she was "interested, among other things, in settler violence and how to reduce tensions in the region and strengthen the Palestinian Authority."