by Our Foreign Desk

THOUSANDS of Israelis joined party leaders and President Reuven Rivlin at rallies in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa on Saturday night to condemn the growth in political violence.

They cited the recent examples of Thursday night’s stabbing attack at Jerusalem’s annual gay pride parade resulting in the death of a 15-year-old girl and the Jewish settler terrorist attack at Duma that killed an 18-month-old Palestinian baby and seriously injured the rest of his family.

Mr Rivlin stood in front of an enormous gay pride flag in Jerusalem’s Zion Square to condemn the attack on Jerusalem Pride and the murder of the Palestinian boy Ali Dawabsha.

He said that violence carried out in the name of the Torah is antithetical to Judaism and demanded that incitement come to an end.

“Friends, the flames are spreading in our land — flames of violence, flames of hatred, flames of false, distorted and twisted beliefs,” said Mr Rivlin.

“We cannot continue to dismiss these flames which are consuming the public in Israel ... These flames, which are consuming all of us, cannot be extinguished with weak condemnations. These flames cannot be extinguished with solidarity rallies.”

The president said that, when he visited the family at Sheba Medical Centre at Tel Hashomer, he was ashamed and “ridden with dread for the power of hatred.”

Former president Shimon Peres told a Tel Aviv rally that he blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for creating an atmosphere of incitement.

“It’s time to end the masquerade.

“He who incites against Arab citizens of Israel should not be surprised when churches and mosques are burned down and in the end a baby is burned alive in his sleep,” he said.

Mr Netanyahu told his weekly cabinet meeting that his government would have “zero tolerance” for Jewish extremists.

Despite the prime minister’s weasel words, his troops shot dead 18-year-old protester Laith al-Khaldi near Ramallah, claiming that he had thrown a petrol bomb at them.

About 2,000 Palestinians marched in Hebron to protest at baby Ali’s death and were confronted by Israeli forces firing rubber bullets and tear gas.

Hundreds of Gazans held a candlelight vigil and symbolic funeral for the child on Saturday evening.