Israel's security cabinet has approved new measures allowing "administrative detention" against Israelis who attack Palestinians, a plan which critics say is ineffective unless the issue of settlements is resolved.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's declaration of "zero tolerance" against "fanaticism" on Sunday followed a pair of attacks last week, including the burning of a Palestinian baby in the occupied West Bank and a deadly stabbing during the gay pride march in Jerusalem.
Israel's security cabinet issued a statement saying it had directed the security agencies "to take all necessary steps to apprehend those responsible and prevent similar acts".
It said the measures would include using "administrative detention", under which detainees can be held for months or years without charges. In the past, Israel had defended the administrative detention of Palestinians as a necessary tool for preventing attacks.
Israel is determined to fight "hate, fanaticism and terrorism from whatever side", Netanyahu said. "This is a matter of basic humanity and is at the foundation of our enlightened Jewish values," he said.
Israeli 'hyprocrisy'
Commenting on the announcement, Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy dismissed Netanyahu's reaction as "too little, too late" and "not much more than hyprocrisy".
"There is a very clear context of growing violence, nationalism, racism in Israel mainly among the settlers, mainly among nationalist camps," Levy told Al Jazeera.
"As long as this long and brutal occupation is going on, this is inevitable, and it will just get worse and worse."
Sahar Vardi, an Israeli activist, told Al Jazeera that the "extreme right-wing" supporters who chase and "beat" Palestinians are the same people who shout homophobic slogans in the country.
"There is a very clear extreme right-wing ideology of a group of people, who believe in using violence to serve their ideology, which is both racist and homophobic," she said.
