Ramallah: Israel’s radical new defence minister Avigdor Lieberman has a new “carrot and stick” policy for the West Bank that will penalise the hometowns of Palestinian attackers while rewarding others, his ministry said on Thursday.

Under the policy, Palestinian families, villages and towns that are linked to attackers will face extra punitive measures, while those that are not will receive increased economic support.

The common Israeli practice of punishing those who are related to attackers or live in their towns has been condemned by Palestinians as collective punishment.

“Anyone who is ready for coexistence will profit, and anyone who takes the route of terrorism will lose,” Lieberman said, according to Israeli newspapers.

Lieberman described the policy as a “carrot and stick” approach, his ministry confirmed to AFP.

Liberman revealed that plan budgeted at 400 million Shekels, will include the creation of a news website in Arabic and the launching of an Arabic radio station for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The two will go live in January 2017 and will be run by the defense ministry.

“I am allowing additional construction of an industrial park near Nablus, an economic corridor between Jericho and Jordan, along with some other general construction in Palestinian cities that have not been the hometown of attackers.”

The policy is dependent on support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Lieberman said he had already received.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, which is home to more than two million Palestinians, since 1967.

More than 400,000 Israelis live in Jews-only West Bank colonies which the international community considers illegal and sees as one of the largest obstacles to peace.

According to Israeli media reports, Lieberman, whose ministry leads Israeli policy in the West Bank, has divided the region in two — with Palestinian hometowns of attackers marked green and others in red or yellow.

Those marked as threats could see increased arrests or raids and tighter restrictions on access, while those seen as accepting of Israel’s occupation could see increased state investment.

 

Lieberman will also seek to improve relations with prominent Palestinians outside the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority headed by president Mahmoud Abbas.

According to Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah Central Committee, Israel plans to replace the Palestinian leadership. “This Israel’s lifetime dream will never come true,” he told Gulf News.

Zaki said it should not be Lieberman revealing a carrot and stick proposal. “It is us, the Palestinians, who offer Liberman the carrot of security but also a thick stick in our hands,” he said.

“Israel is putting massive effort to replace the Palestinian leadership,” he said. “There will never come a time when Palestinians do not need a leader like the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO),” he stressed. “No Palestinian will come out and speak against the PLO and the leadership. Israel should take this for granted.”