Israeli committee meets in wake of hit-and-run of Palestinian boys, From Izzy Lemberg, CNN

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Israeli committee meets in wake of hit-and-run of Palestinian boys, From Izzy Lemberg, CNN

Jerusalem (CNN) -- A hit-and-run by an Israeli settler of two stone-throwing Palestinian children led to a shouting match Monday during an Israeli parliament committee meeting that sought to address the practice of activist groups who use minors for violent activities.

The incident, captured on video Friday, occurred when a Jewish settler was driving through the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, known as a flashpoint section of the city that houses many Palestinians. The neighborhood has also been the site of several previous confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli settlers.

As the settler -- identified as Jewish activist David Be'eri -- was driving, he came upon a group of Palestinian children who were throwing stones at passing cars.

Video of the incident shows the car slamming into two children wielding stones. One of the boys is upended as he is thrown onto the hood of the car, and the second falls to the ground after being struck by the left front bumper. The car briefly stops before driving off as other children and young men continue to pelt it with stones.

Both boys were treated and released from the hospital.

The Palestinan Cabinet condemned the incident during its meeting Sunday, according to a government communique.

Be'eri, whose son was also in the car at the time, was detained by police and has been released on bail pending a hearing.

"When I was attacked I wanted to drive 'reverse,' but the car behind me blocked me," Be'eri told Israel's Channel Two TV. "If I would have waited another 10 seconds, they would have taken my 13-year-old son out of the car, so I said to myself, 'I have to get out of here as quickly as possible otherwise I will have to use my gun and that will be much worse.'"

Be'eri is the head of the Elad organization, an Israeli group dedicated to moving Jews into Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem -- which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war -- as their capital and considers Jewish neighborhoods built there as illegal settlements. Israel considers Jerusalem its undivided capital.

Be'eri was scheduled to appear at Monday's Knesset session by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, but did not show up.

Committee chair Danny Danon said he convened the meeting because "we see the trend of sending young children to throw rocks at innocent people and it's unacceptable."

The session devolved into an angry exchange between two Knesset legislators after Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli Arab member of parliament, rejected the notion that the incident was an accident. Tibi accused the Knesset committee of politicizing the issue of children, instead of focusing on the driver.

"This man should be jailed, he should be condemned," he said.

Far right Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari responded by calling Tibi a "terrorist."

When Tibi asked rhetorically whether children who throw stones should be shot, Ben-Ari responded, "if it endangers lives, shoot him."