The human rights group Yesh Din on Sunday lambasted Defense Minister Amir Peretz's claim that the Israel Defense Forces soldier who was on duty when a Jewish resident of Hebron allegedly hit and cursed a local Palestinian family did not have the authority to intervene in the attack.

According to Michael Sfard, the group's legal adviser, IDF soldiers have all the authority needed to prevent abuse of Palestinians at the hand of settlers. Both international law and previous cabinet decisions support Sfard's position.

"Soldiers can't claim that it is not within their authority to arrest Israeli citizens who are harming Palestinians or their property," Sfard wrote to Peretz. "Not only are they authorized to do so, they are obligated to do so".

An amateur video recording showing Jewish resident, Yifat Alkobi, verbally and physically attacking members of the local Abu Aysha family was broadcast in the media last week.

The defense minister called the attack "shameful and humiliating" but said the soldier on duty at the time did not have the authority to intervene in the event.

Peretz will head a committee to conduct a root and branch investigation into Jewish and Palestinian relations in Hebron in the wake of the attack, the cabinet decided on Monday.

The Palestinian family lives in a heavily defended house, designed to protect them from attacks by settlers. The film shows Alkobi preventing a female resident from leaving her home and swearing at her while an Israel Defense Forces soldier stands by doing nothing.

The establishment of the committee was ordered by Peretz and approved by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Interior Minister Roni Bar-On will sit on the panel as members.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who commended the founding of the panel, harshly condemned the abuse of the Palestinian family. "It is impossible to come to terms with such brutal behavior," he said. "When I saw the pictures on television I was really ashamed."

Olmert added that he expects everyone, including settlers, to refrain from such behavior.

The Peace Now movement will stage a demonstration on Thursday in Hebron to promote the penalizing of Hebron residents for the abuse of Palestinians.

The Hebron police last week began investigating Alkobi in a pending case of the alleged abduction of a Palestinian boy in March 2005. Alkobi will stand trial on suspicion of a racially motivated assault on February 11.