“That finger that pressed the trigger of the gun had many fingers, many fingers that are today in power in the State of Israel.” 
--At a local memorial ceremony marking 20 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, Carmiel Mayor Adi Eldar attacked the present government in a ‘direct and unprecedented way,’ wrote Maariv.

---

You Must Be Kidding: 
“We wrote a request to (the Defense Ministry to) prevent the rally and it turns out that not only did the rally take place, but you took part in it. The fact that a deputy minister participates in illegal activity, and thereby encourages it, while violating the law, is inconceivable.”
-- Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber wrote in a sharp letter to the Defense Minister after Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan (Habayit Hayehudi) participated in an illegal demonstration in the West Bank.

--From Haaretz+ columnist Bradley Burston’s ‘letter of resignation from the tribe.'

---

You Must Be Kidding: 
"I feel bad. I found myself in an uncomfortable situation, which I am sorry about. I am in a little bit of a poor mental state, but it will be alright."
--Dudu Moyal, who was seen in the video clip throwing a bench on the face of mortally wounded Eritrean Habtoum Zarhoum, said after the court hearing, in which he and three others were released from house arrest. Zarhoum died.

"Jews and Arabs, what do we all want at the end of the day? To make a living and advance in life, we want a better future for our children. And we want that the good food that we will serve will transfer that message."
--Fuad Marwan, co-owner of Al-Masraa restaurant in Acco that is holding a 'co-existence dinner' tonight prepared by Jewish and Arab chefs. 

---

You Must Be Kidding: 
53.5%
--The percentage of religious Israeli Jews who believe the option of carrying out a forced population transfer of Israel’s Muslim population should be brought back to the public discourse. Another 27.5% had no opinion and only 19% opposed, according to a poll that examined religious Jews’ views on Arab citizens of Israel.

"I have a great deal of respect for those in uniform who defended themselves and the citizens around them without killing the terrorist..."
--Prof. Asa Kasher, who compiled the IDF ethics code, writes that shooting a terrorist in the head is "immoral and illegal."

---

You Must Be Kidding: 
"Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews."
--Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tells the 37th Zionist Congress in his speech Tuesday.

“You’ll surely portray us a terrorists, but we’re not that. We are just people who want to live in dignity and hope, but not despair."
--A Bedouin youth tells the media from the home of the family of the Beersheva Bedouin attacker.

---

You Must Be Kidding: 
Arab Israeli Hussein Shakra began pastry school this week and on first day they handed each student a set of knives that she/he is supposed to take to and from school. Panic broke out in the classroom, wrote Shakra on Facebook. ‘How will they let me on the train with these knives,’ one Jewish girl asked.
“You’re the one who’s worried? What am I gonna do!? (yup, I’m the only Arab in the class),” wrote Shakra on Facebook. 

"What kind of message is this meant to convey to young pupils, who are used to seeing Arab workers as part of their usual learning environment and then, during times of tension, they are made to disappear just because they’re Arabs? We must not teach children that every Arab is a threat.”
--Sikkuy’s co-executive directors, Rawnak Natour and Ron Gerlitz, slammed the decision by Israeli municipalities to fire their Arab cleaning workers.

"Why didn't they shoot him in the legs?"
--Family of Shahar Mamoun furious after police shot him dead during a brawl, in what Yedioth called the 'Panic Effect,' whereby Palestinian attackers with knives are shot dead and now Israelis are, too.

---

You Must Be Kidding: 
One of the soldiers on the bus reportedly told the bus driver that his father was a senior police officer and that he, the soldier, recognized the Arab woman as being a wanted terrorist.
But Biyan Khaled, a young Israeli-Arab woman, is no terrorist and is now demanding 50,000 shekels (about $13,000) compensation from the Egged bus company after being removed from a bus last week when soldiers on board incorrectly suspected her of being a terrorist.

"The principle ‘He who comes to kill you, kill him first’ is true everywhere, but assuming that every (attacker) killed fuels the flames – the shooting should be the most exact and accurate as possible. That is also what differentiates between animal instinct and considerations of human beings"

--Maariv commentator Ran Adelist writes that Israeli security forces shouldn't shoot when an attacker can be stopped otherwise, and should shoot to injure, not to kill, unless it is unavoidable.

---

You Must Be Kidding: 
"Calm down, I’m Yemenite."
--Words on shirt worn by Harel Cohen, after he had to deal with suspicious residents who called the police on him when he passed by. 

"Do you want us to go around and confiscate all the kitchen knives in East Jerusalem?"
--Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon asked, in a jab to Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, who had said there was a need to “clean up” East Jerusalem’s Palestinian neighborhoods.

---

You Must Be Kidding: 
Yesterday, Ashur Jawals opened his café for the first time in two weeks. It’s very near to where Nehemia Lavi and Aharon Bennett were murdered. Shortly after the cafe reopened, two inspectors, accompanied by five police officers, entered and issued a 5,000-shekel fine, to be paid within 90 days, for the absence of no-smoking signs. Jawals, who has run the café for decades, said he’d never even been asked to post such signs, much less fined for failing to do so. (Haaretz+)