The price tag attack policy (), also sometimes referred to as mutual responsibility (),Amos N. Guiora, Tolerating Intolerance: The Price of Protecting Extremism, Oxford University Press, 2014 p.107. is the name originallyNir Hasson, ‘Jerusalem Christians are latest targets in recent spate of 'price tag' attacks,’ at Haaretz, 21 February 2012.Nir Hasson/Associated Press, 'Monastery near Jerusalem defaced in suspected 'price tag' attack,' at Haaretz 21 August 2013.' Jewish extremists originally used the term "price tag" to describe vandalism and violence that targeted Israelis as well as Palestinians and was aimed at preventing or avenging evacuations of West Bank settlers.' given to the attacks and acts of vandalism committed primarily in the occupied West Bank by extremist Israeli settler youths against Palestinian Arabs, and to a lesser extent, against left-wing Israeli Jews,Oz Rosenberg, 'Home of Israeli left-wing activist defaced in latest 'price tag' act,' in Haaretz, 12 September 2011. Israeli Arabs, Christians, and Israeli security forces.Yifa Yaakov, 'Arab Israeli complains of Galilee price tag attack,' The Times of Israel 21 April 2014, The youths officially claim that the acts are committed to "exact a price from local Palestinians or from the Israeli security forces for any action taken against their settlement enterprise".Uri Friedman, The 'Price Tag' Menace: Vigilante Israeli Settler Attacks Spread , at The Atlantic Wire, 3 October 2011:'The New York Times defines price tag attacks as incidents in which radical Jewish settlers "exact a price from local Palestinians or from the Israeli security forces for any action taken against their settlement enterprise".'Isabel Kershner, Mosque Set on Fire in Northern Israel, at New York Times, 3 October 2011:'The attack followed a series of similar assaults on mosques in the West Bank by arsonists suspected of being radical settlers as part of a campaign known as "price tag", which seeks to exact a price from local Palestinians for violence against settlers or from Israeli security forces for taking action against illegal construction in Jewish outposts in the West Bank.'Ben Schott, 'Schott's Vocab: A Miscellany of Modern Words & Phrases,' in New York Times,24 July 2009:'Attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank protesting against the actions of the Israeli army.'
B'Tselem has documented many acts of this kind, which have included violent attacks carried out against random Palestinian civilians, burning of mosques and fields, stone throwing, uprooting trees, and incursions into Palestinian villages and land.John Lyons, Moral Minority in The Australian, 17 September 2011:'Some settlers practice a "price tag" policy: if the Israeli government does something they do not like, such as trying to close an illegal outpost, they in turn punish Palestinians, by poisoning or burning olive trees, desecrating mosques or attacking cars..' These actions come as retaliation for Palestinian acts of violence against settlers, or decisions by the Israeli government to curb Jewish construction in the West Bank,Anshel Pfeffer & Chaim Levinson Israeli settlers' council condemns 'marginal group' behind vandalism at IDF base, in Haaretz, 7 September 2011: 'This was the first "price tag" act extremist settlers have implemented against the army since adopting their policy of seeking retribution to exact for any curb on Israeli construction in the West Bank. Extremists adopted their "price tag" policy to demonstrate discontent with the government's decision to freeze construction in West Bank settlements, but have directed their operations thus far at Palestinians.' where 80% of the attacks take place, while some 10–15% take place in the area of Jerusalem. Such vandalism also embraces damaging the property, or injuring members of the Israel Police and the Israel Defense Forces, and defacing the homes of left-wing activists.
The Israel Security Agency, known as Shin Bet, estimates of the extent of the perpetrator group vary: one figure calculates that from several hundred to about 3,000 people implement the price tag policy,Chezki Ezra, GSS hills activists engaged in "price tag" debate", in Arutz Sheva, 11 February 2008. while a recent analysis sets the figure at a few dozen individuals, organized in small close-knit and well-organised cellsReuters, Facts about "Price Tag" attacks blamed on Jewish settlers , 3 October 2011. and backed by a few hundred right-wing activists. Yizhar Hess, comparing hate crimes against Arabs in Israel and antisemitic acts against Jews in France, notes that incidents of price tag attacks are proportionately higher, and argues that price tag acts are Israel's antisemitism.Yizhar Hess, 'Price tag' is Israel's anti-Semitism, Ynet 8 May 2014:'Relatively, there are more hate incidents against Arabs in Israel than hate incidents against Jews in France. . .When one examines these numbers courageously, the earth starts moving. Nearly eight million residents live in Israel. On average, we are talking about one anti-Semitic incident per 400,000 people... Even France, which had the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in 2013, recorded 116 incidents. With its 66 million residents, we are talking about one incident per 600,000 people.' The roots of the price tag policy were traced to the August 2005 dismantling of settlements in the Gaza Strip as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan. Ever since then, extreme right wing settlers have sought to establish a "balance of terror", in which every state action aimed at them generates an immediate violent reaction. The definition of such acts as terroristic, however, is the subject of considerable political controversy in Israel.'Meretz head Gal-On blasts AG over cabinet’s lesser categorization of 'price tag’ attacks,' at Haaretz, 16 February 2014.
The "price tag" concept and violence have been publicly rejected by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have demanded that those responsible be brought to justice. Cabinet member Benny Begin stated: "These people are scoundrels, but we have not been terribly successful in catching them."Ethan Bronner, Amid Statehood Bid, Tensions Simmer in West Bank, in The New York Times, 23 September 2011. Many people across the political spectrum in Israel have denounced such attacksRaanan Ben-Zur, 'Suspect arrested in Tuba Zangaria mosque arson,' in Ynet, 6 October 2011. and some have made efforts to redress the harm. The attacks are widely reported in the Arab media, and have been strongly condemned by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The settler leadership have "fiercely condemned" the price tag policy,Ethan Bronner, Amid Statehood Bid, Tensions Simmer in West Bank, The New York Times, 23 September 2011, p.1:"The settler leadership has fiercely condemned 'price tag', saying it does not represent the vast majority of their community". and the vast majority of Yesha rabbis have expressed their reservations about it.Nadav Shragai, 'The new policy of the settlers: "price tag" on any evacuation of the army', (Hebrew) in Haaretz, 3 October 2008: "The settlers' establishment and the vast majority of the Yesha Rabbis express reservations about it." According to Shin Bet, the vast majority of the settlers also reject such actions.
Terminology
The acts also referred to as "tactic",David Khalfa, 'After the Gaza Withdrawal: The Settler’s Struggle Over the Meaning of the Israeli National Identity,’ in Elisabeth Marteu (ed.) Civil Organizations and Protest Movements in Israel: Mobilisation around the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Palgrave Macmillan 2009 pp.27-51 p.42: These radical settlers, about a few hundred people, launched a new tactic called euphemistically "price tag".' "strategy",United Nations Report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, United Nations General Assembly 65th Session, Supplement No.35 2010 p.10) "doctrine", "campaign",Miriam Fendius Elman, Oded Haklai, Hendrik Spruyt 'Democracy and Peacemaking in Protracted Conflicts:The Israeli Case,’ Miriam Fendius Elman, Oded Haklai, Hendrik Spruyt (eds.) Democracy and Conflict Resolution: The Dilemmas of Israel's Peacemaking, Syracuse University Press, 2014 pp.1-26, pp.16-17 n,16: 'settlement supports have been successful in recent years by threatening violent resistance to settlement dismantlement and by resorting to vigilante tactics to prevent further disengagement (e.g., the "price tag campaign" whereby attempts to evacuate illegal settlements have been met with the destruction of Palestinian property and the targeting of Palestinian civilians.)’ or "principle".Michael Karpin, Imperfect Compromise: A New Consensus Among Israelis and Palestinians, Potomac Books, 2013 p.26. The term "price tag attack" now extends to acts of vandalism, and especially to acts of anti-Arab vandalism,Eli Ashkenazi,'Vandals scrawl 'Death to Arabs' on window of Druze business in northern Israel,' Haaretz 7 May 2014. suspected to be the work of lone individuals, against the Israeli army and security services, as well as against Christian and Muslim places of worship, and also against left-wing institutions that criticize settlers.Nir Hasson, ‘Jerusalem Christians are latest targets in recent spate of 'price tag' attacks,’ at Haaretz, 21 February 2012.'The attack on the Narkis Street Baptist Congregation marks the latest in a series of price tag attacks that have targeted Muslim, Christian and left-wing institutions in the capital over the last two months. But police believe most of the vandalism is not the work of an organized group; rather, they say, the spray-painted slogans are largely copycat actions carried out by lone individuals. The original price tag attacks, in contrast, were thought to be the work of a group of settlers seeking to set a "price tag" on house demolitions in the settlements via retaliatory attacks on Palestinians and/or Israeli soldiers. ‘Nir Hasson/Associated Press, 'Monastery near Jerusalem defaced in suspected 'price tag' attack,' at Haaretz 21 August 2013.'Dr. Gadi Gvaryahu, Chairman of the Bright Tag organization working to deter violent "price tag" attacks against Palestinians, said in of the attack: "The violation of the monastery is directly linked to attacks against over twenty Christian and Muslim places of worship in the last three years. The attackers seek to cause unrest between the various religions in Israel and bring about bloodshed".’Ahiya Raved, 'Fire heavily damages Church of Loaves and Fishes on Sea of Galilee,' Ynet 18 June 2015. According to Rabbis for Human Rights states that 43 such hate crime attacks have been made against churches, mosques and monasteries in Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 2009. In May 2014, Shin Bet said the price-tag hate crimes were the handiwork of about 100 individuals mainly hailing from the Yitzhar settlement and hilltop outposts, and were inspired by the ideas of rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh.Amos Harel, Revital Hovel, Jack Khoury,'Security sources: 100 followers of racist rabbi are behind hate crimes,' Haaretz 8 May 2014.
One objection to the use of the term is that it dehumanizes Palestinians. Ron Ben-Tovim argues that it is a supermarket label used as a euphemism for violent acts aimed to instill terror into the hearts of Palestinians, applied to acts against Palestinians by Jews, whereas it is standard in Israeli usage to brand all acts perpetrated by Palestinians against Israeli Jews as terrorism. "Cutting off the head of the terror snake" and "tentacles of terror" are commonly used metaphors. To use a special term, "price tag" for acts of violence against Palestinians is to reduce the terror to a message by settlers to their government, and ignore the victim.Ron Ben-Tovim 'Stop Calling Hate Crimes 'price Tag Attacks' It's Offensive,' Haaretz 5 August 2015.