Netanyahu: Islamic extremists responsible for igniting passions in Jerusalem

PM tells cabinet that 1000 additional police officers, Border Policemen and special unit forces are being brought in to reinforce the police and security forces in the city.

By HERB KEINON, KHALED ABU TOAMEH, DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a consultation with police in Jerusalem, October 23, 2014. (photo credit: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a consultation with police in Jerusalem, October 23, 2014.
(photo credit: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO)
Four days after a terrorist attack rattled Jerusalem residents, resulting in the prime minister’s directive to send in an emergency Border Police unit to restore order, 20 Arabs have been arrested, as hundreds of extra officers heavily patrol east Jerusalem on the eve of the terrorist’s funeral.
According to Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the majority of arrests have taken place in flashpoint Arab neighborhoods including Silwan and Isawiya, the former being where alleged terrorist Abdel Rahman al-Shalodi is scheduled to be buried Sunday night.
“Hundreds of extra officers have been stationed in Silwan and throughout east Jerusalem to respond to and prevent any incidents,” Rosenfeld said. “Police are focusing on containing the situation and have made 20 arrests in different areas since Thursday, where security measures have been emphasized.”
Rosenfeld continued: “Assessments will continue to be made on a daily basis, including for the terrorist’s funeral, which is scheduled to take place tonight.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the extra police reinforcements to buttress security in the capital after three-month-old Chaya Zissel Braun was killed and eight others wounded by a convicted Hamas terrorist at the Ammunition Hill lightrail stop Wednesday night.
On Sunday night, a second woman, Karen Yemima Mosquera, injured in the car-ramming incident died as well, police said.
At the start of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday morning, Netanyahu said Islamic extremists are trying to ignite the capital, adding that Israel would do whatever it takes to ensure they do not succeed.
Israel would act with all the force, determination and responsibility necessary to restore calm to the city, the prime minister said.
“I expect wide support from all Israeli citizens to guard Israel’s capital,” he said.
Netanyahu told the cabinet that 1,000 additional border policemen and special units are being brought in to reinforce the police and security forces in the city, adding that Israel will not accept a reality of rock throwing, fire bombs and rioting in the city.
Meanwhile, as tension in the capital continues to mount, government officials said that Israel has made clear to relevant governments – especially to the Jordanians – that there is no plan to change the status quo on the Temple Mount.
“We are committed to the continuation of the status quo, and the government will oppose different proposals to change it,” the official added.
At the same time, he said, the government will “act energetically to deal with security threats, violence and rioting, and there will be no compromise on that. Law and order will be maintained everywhere in Jerusalem.”
The root of the problem, the official said, is “Palestinian extremists and, unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority as well, spreading totally false rumors that the Muslim holy sites are threatened.”
He said that among the messages being sent to the Jordanians and other governments, which he would not identify, was that there is no threat to the Muslim religious sites, and that the government is committed to protecting them.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, speaking at a ceremony marking 20 years to the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty held at the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv, reiterated this point, saying that Israel had an obligation to act with wisdom, to preserve the important peace treaty with Jordan, and to prevent unnecessary friction at holy places.
Ya’alon called the ties with Jordan a “strategic alliance.”
But Jordan’s Ambassador Walid Obeidat said at the same event that the treaty with Jordan would be imperiled by construction beyond the 1967 lines and any change to the status quo on the Temple Mount.
“All such acts are incompatible with international law and international humanitarian law and if allowed to continue will ultimately imperil the treaty,” Obeidat said.
In response to the ongoing violence in east Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday sent an “urgent letter” to the US administration.
In his letter, Abbas urged the US administration to intervene quickly to “stop Israeli escalation in east Jerusalem, especially raids by settlers and extremists into the Aksa Mosque,” according to a statement released by the PA president’s office in Ramallah.
Abbas warned that Israel’s measures in the city would lead to a “wider explosion” that would be impossible to control.
Abbas held the Israeli government responsible for the “dangerous escalation” and claimed that it was seeking to divide prayer times inside the Temple Mount between Muslims and Jews.