Security issues have been increasing in the West Bank with Israel’s election just two weeks away. The West Bank is a pressure cooker about to boil over, and now a group of right-wing politicians is increasing tensions even further by calling for the expulsion from the country of the terrorists’ families.

Two weeks ago, Jewish Home Party leader Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked approached Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev and demanded that the family of Fadi Kunbar be expelled from the country. In January 2017, Kunbar killed four soldiers and wounded 18 civilians in a vehicular attack at Jerusalem’s Armon HaNetziv Promenade.

Shaked decided last September that Kunbar's family should be expelled. She claimed that the family’s expulsion is a preventative measure to thwart further terrorist attacks. Shaked’s decision to expel came after a ruling by the Jerusalem Appeals Court, which revoked the residency status of Kunbar from the east Jerusalem Jabel Mukaber neighborhood. With that, the family has lost its legal right to reside in the country.

Still, Shaked needed Bar Lev to execute her decision. Bar Lev was less than keen on that. He responded to Shaked that it was her responsibility to inform the family that they must leave the country by way of the Population and Immigration Register, which is under her purview. Only if they fail to obey this order, and only if all appeals are exhausted, will the Israel Police, which is under his purview, take action.