It was indeed shocking. But it was not surprising.

The group that carried out an arson attack on a Palestinian home last Friday, killing a toddler and seriously wounding parents and siblings, has torched dozens of Palestinian homes and mosques over the past six years.

The man who stabbed six people at the Gay Pride march in Jerusalem a day earlier, ultimately ending the life of a 16-year-old, had been convicted for carrying out an identical attack at the same event in 2005.

But those ministers who issued stern and sincere condemnations of the attacks have nonetheless also read the intelligence reports on Jewish extremists over the years - and have allowed an atmosphere of intolerance, impunity and racism to persist.

The burning of a sleeping family cannot be disconnected from the fact that, for decades, settler violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank has largely gone unpunished.

The government has now sanctioned the use of controversial administrative detention against "Jewish terror" suspects, in response to intelligence of a shadowy settler group trying to foment a religious war in order to overthrow the secular state.

But the IDF, police and Shin Bet have been demanding these powers for years - and have repeatedly warned that it was only a matter of time before an attack produced this kind of outcome.

The obstacle was the settlers' lobby in the Knesset and cabinet, which blocked more decisive action.

Those are the same settler leaders who now demand that an entire Jewish community in the West Bank should not be blamed for the actions of a few arsonists.

Settler vigilantism has been around for 35 years, at least since a group which later became known as "the Jewish Underground" planted explosives in the cars of Palestinian mayors. Over the decades they may have become even more radical and believe that their ideals supersede those of an Israeli government and justify murderous violence.

The "price tag" arson attacks have been taking place for years on both sides of the Green Line and it is only good fortune that prevented them from claiming lives until last week. The debate over what methods law enforcement agencies should be using against them is woefully overdue.

The attack on Jerusalem's Gay Pride, which ended the life of 16-year-old Shira Banki, did not come out of nowhere, either.

Spokespeople for the Charedi community were quick to say that they abhorred any form of violence and branded killer Yishai Schlissel as a mad loner - but they could not bring themselves to utter the name of the event he had attacked. It is also worth noting that, contrary to the rabbis' statement, the district attorney believes Schlissel is sane enough to stand trial again.

The strictly-Orthodox print media, which is vetted daily by rabbis, did not mention the incident anywhere the following day and even the more unruly Charedi websites referred to it only as the "abomination march".

It is unfair to blame an entire community for the action of one man acting without any rabbinical sanction, but is it unreasonable to draw any connections between a religious leadership that refuses to acknowledge the existence of homosexuality and a follower who made the ultimate protest?

And should the fact that at least a quarter of the coalition's members are also followers of these rabbis go unnoticed?

Education Minister Naftali Bennett was unequivocal in his condemnation of the murder. But a few years ago, one of his party's MKs organised a "beasts march" with donkeys and horses to coincide with the Gay Pride event in Jerusalem.

Following the Gay Pride attack, heads may roll in the police force. Someone could even pay with their job, or at least be denied promotion. But the fact that a gay parade marcher was murdered in Israel, which likes to market itself as a prime destination for gay tourism and a rare haven in the Middle East where homosexuals are routinely persecuted and even executed, should be noted.

"You don't have to support violence to subscribe to certain intolerant ideas which create a climate in which extremists can flourish" was one of the main themes of David Cameron's anti-extremism speech last month.

Many British Jews supported the message of the prime minister - that certain beliefs, particularly antisemitism, can be directly linked to religious violence and terror.

When applied to homophobia and anti-Arab feelings in Israel, Mr Cameron's words make less comfortable reading.

On Monday, the two chief rabbis of Israel issued a joint statement that the Torah "completely" forbids "any act of violence whatsoever against any person who is created in the image of the Almighty, whether Jew or non-Jew."

The rabbinical proclamation went no further.

The Israeli government cannot order all its citizens to be tolerant - for settlers to suddenly begin loving Palestinians and Charedim to embrace homosexuality.

What it must do, though, is admit it has a problem.