Netanyahu blames Abbas incitement for Jerusalem terror attack

Prime Minister orders reinforced security forces in capital; politicians on Right action should have been taken earlier to stop violence.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enters cabinet meeting (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enters cabinet meeting
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas encourages violence against Jews in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following the vehicular terrorist attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
“This is how Abbas’s partners in government [Hamas] act. This is the same Abbas who, only a few days ago, incited toward a terrorist attack in Jerusalem,” he said.
Netanyahu ordered that security forces in Jerusalem be reinforced following the attack, consulting with Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Israel Police Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) director Yoram Cohen.
“Not even Satan could create sufficient vengeance for the blood of a three-monthold baby,” Economy Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) said.
“An enemy that murders babies must be treated as such.” Bennett called for police and Aharonovitch to treat every rock-thrower and arsonist as a terrorist.
President Reuven Rivlin said: “The atrocious murder of an innocent baby girl, a victim of indiscriminate terrorism, should disgust all those who have a heart.”
He added that “the increasing incitement on the Arab streets and the streets of Jerusalem, which unfortunately receives the backing of leaders in the Arab world, has the ability to destroy the delicate balance of life in Jerusalem, and carry us all into a maelstrom of destruction and pain.”
The president offered his condolences to the baby’s family, and said he was praying “for a quick and complete recovery of the wounded.”
Politicians on the Right blamed what they called the government’s complacency toward ongoing violence in the capital for leading to the attack.
Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi), whose ministry is a short walk from the Ammunition Hill light rail station, where the attack took place, said: “The violence in Jerusalem reached its peak today.
The reality in recent months of repeated violent incidents by [Arabs] must stop.
“It started with throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails and continued to deteriorate – and today, unfortunately, Jewish blood was spilled,” he said.
Ariel demanded that Netanyahu and Aharonovitch take action against those who seek to harm Israeli citizens and increase police forces in Jerusalem to stop the deterioration of security in the capital.
Knesset Finance Committee chairman Nissan Slomiansky (Bayit Yehudi) called for putting an end to the “silent intifada” and bringing security back to the streets of Jerusalem.
“Once again we see that any concession in Jerusalem, specifically on the Temple Mount, is seen by the other side as weakness and increases terrorism,” Slomiansky said. “The time has come for the government of Israel to give clear instructions and the means for security forces to act against the rock-throwing and other attacks.”
MK Danny Danon (Likud) said there is a war in Jerusalem and terrorism must be fought without hesitation.
“The blood of Jerusalem’s residents has become cheap. The time has come to stop the rioters, the Arabs of east Jerusalem who are led by extremist leaders. They have to know that there is zero tolerance for such acts,” he said.
MK Eli Yishai (Shas) said the government’s apathy toward the wave of rock-throwing in the capital’s east encourages terrorists.
“For a long time, residents of Jerusalem are hopeless hostages in facing the growth of Arab rioting. A terrorist is a terrorist, whether he is throwing a rock or holding a gun. They face the same fate and they should be stopped with the same determination,” he said.
Yishai called to demolish terrorists’ homes to deter others from carrying out attacks.