Spokesman: Abbas condemns all violence including Har Adar attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Abbas to condemn the attack on Wednesday.

By ADAM RASGON
Updated: OCTOBER 1, 2017 01:20
Israeli soldiers guard near the scene where a Palestinian gunman killed three Israelis and wounded a fourth in an attack on Har Adar before himself being shot dead, September 26, 2017. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israeli soldiers guard near the scene where a Palestinian gunman killed three Israelis and wounded a fourth in an attack on Har Adar before himself being shot dead, September 26, 2017.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemns all acts of violence, including the shooting attack that took place outside the Har Adar settlement near Jerusalem last Tuesday, the leader’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah said on Thursday.
Rudeinah is the first senior PA official to speak publicly about the attack.
Nimer al-Jamal, 37, shot dead three Israeli security personnel and seriously injured a civilian outside the Har Adar. Jamal, a father of four, had previously worked in Har Adar as a cleaner.
“The president’s permanent position is to condemn all acts of violence including this operation,” Rudeinah told official PA radio in response to a question about Abbas’s position on the Har Adar attack.
The remarks came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called on Abbas to condemn the Har Adar attack and accused the PA of incitement to violence.
They also took place after the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and US Consulate in Jerusalem jointly issued a statement shortly after the attack, condemning it and calling “on all to send a clear message that terrorism must never be tolerated.”
Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, who is currently visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories, posted the statement on his Twitter account.
Abbas infrequently condemns specific attacks against Israelis. When he has done so, he has faced major backlash.
Despite his hesitation to condemn attacks, Abbas has instructed the PA security forces to prevent attacks against Israelis. According to both Israeli and Palestinian security sources, the PA security forces have foiled hundreds of attacks against Israelis.
The latest attack was also condemned by the United Nations, the European Union and others.


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