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Israeli Cabinet Meets to Review Military "Policy of Restraint"
The Israeli security cabinet convened on Wednesday to review the policy adopted by the security forces on suppressing Palestinian demonstrations.
The meeting, chaired by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, is expected to decide whether to change what Israeli officials called the "policy of restraint" of the security forces in bloody clashes with the Palestinians, an official in Barak's office said.
The Palestinian demonstrations have been raging for nearly seven weeks to protest against Israeli violation of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem. More than 200 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed and thousands of others wounded in the clashes.
Prior to the meeting, convened after four Israelis were killed by the Palestinians on Monday, Minister of Communications Binyamin Ben Eliezer said the Israeli government can no longer afford to continue the "policy of restraint."
"There is no possibility of continuing the 'policy of restraint'," Eliezer told Israel's Army Radio.
"No people should illude themselves that they will shed the blood of Jews and we will just sit quietly by," he added.
Israel has claimed that if it "had not restrained" its military forces from initiating attacks or counterattacks, there "would surely have been more casualties on the Palestinian side."
Israeli rightwing groups have urged the government to act "with heavy hands" against the Palestinians following the Monday attacks.
But the international community, including the United Nations, has condemned Israel for its excessive use of force against the Palestinian unarmed demonstrators.
Israel's Ha'aretz daily reported on Wednesday that Barak is not likely to order changes of the "policy of restraint" at the security cabinet meeting to avoid escalation of violence.
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