PM Netanyahu Tours Gush Etzion Junction and IDF Etzion Brigade HQ
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Monday, 23 November 2015), toured
Gush Etzion junction and IDF Etzion Brigade HQ. He was briefed on the area
and assessed the situation along with Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, IDF
Deputy Chief-of-Staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan, GOC Central Command Maj.-Gen.
Roni Numeh, Judea and Samaria Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Lior Carmeli and
Etzion Brigade Commander Col. Roman Gofner. The Prime Minister later met
with Gush Etzion Regional Council Chairman Davidi Perl, Efrat Local Council
Chairman Oded Revivi and Kiryat Arba local Council Chairman Malachi
Levinger.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said:

"I would like to send condolences to the family of Hadar Buchris of blessed
memory, who was murdered yesterday, to the Don family and to the families of
those who were murdered. I am visiting here today, along with the Defense
Minister, the Deputy Chief-of-Staff, GOC Central Command and area commanders
in order to step up our war against the terrorists.

First of all, offensively, we are going everywhere. We are entering into
villages, communities and homes and are carrying out widespread arrests.
There is no restriction on the actions of the IDF and the security forces.
On the contrary – there is full support and this is important. First of all,
there are unlimited offensive operations. It must be understood that unlike
Operation Defensive Shield, in which there were command centers, strongholds
and thousands of armed men – and what is the situation today? Operation
Defensive Shield was carried out in order to bring about for us this freedom
of action. And this freedom of action exists and we are using it day and
night in order to operate against concentrations or to foil plans, or
against terrorists or weapons. And the result is, of course, that what we
saw then, hundreds of dead in a year as a result of terrorists armed with
explosive belts and other weapons – this we do not have, and we are doing
everything so that this does not recur. But we must carry out additional
actions against what there is.

And therefore, in addition to reinforcing our units, adding to our forces
and sending forces into villages and communities, we are carrying out
additional operations; I can detail some of them.
- First of all, [we are] checking every Palestinian vehicle on the main
roads. This is being done on the routes leading to the main roads.
- Secondly, localized solutions such as at Gush Etzion junction, that is to
say a local bypass of the junction in accordance with the recommendation of
the security services. This is happening here. It is happening in other
places, including on the bypass roads which we are working to implement.
This will take more time, as opposed to the localized solutions.
-Third, the extensive revocation of work permits for the families of
terrorists. Such a family is aware of the fact that that there is an
extremist – or one who is about to carry out an attack – in its midst, and
such a family has no right to work in the State of Israel. We are revoking
it; this is important.

Additional actions are also related to the problem that exists here. We have
a meeting of those who wield knives, individual terrorists and Internet
incitement and, therefore, we are also using various means to deal with the
social networks. But it seems to me that the most important tool that we
have is the perseverance, courage and determination to fight terrorism just
as we have fought its various expressions over the past 100 years. This we
have in abundance and with them we will be victorious once again."