PM: Revoke citizenship of those calling to destroy Israel

Shalom Aharon Ba’adani, 17, dies of wounds from terrorist attack; rioting continues in east Jerusalem.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD, JPOST.COM STAFF
Kafr Kana shooting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he will instruct the interior minister to evaluate revoking the citizenship of those who “call for the destruction of the State of Israel,” following the death Friday of a second victim from last week’s terrorist attack in the capital.
“Israel is a nation of law,” said Netanyahu. “We will not tolerate disturbances and rioting.
We will act against those who throw stones, block roads and call for the establishment of a Palestinian state in place of the State of Israel.
“Whoever does not honor Israeli law will be punished with utmost severity,” the prime minister continued.
Shalom Aharon Ba’adani, 17, who was critically wounded during the Wednesday afternoon terrorist attack at a Jerusalem Light Rail stop and nearby intersection, died Friday morning, raising the death toll from the rampage to two.
Ba’adani, a yeshiva student, was reportedly riding his bicycle to the Western Wall when he was struck by a van driven by Ibrahim al-Aqari, 38, a Hamas operative from Shuafat, who ran down and killed Border Police Supt. Jidan Assad.
Aqari, who struck 14 people – four border policemen and 10 pedestrians – within 500 meters, was shot dead by an officer after exiting his vehicle wielding a metal pipe to attack more bystanders in the primarily ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Shmuel Hanavi.
Assad, 38, the father of a three-year-old son, whose wife is pregnant with their second child, was buried in the Druse village of Beit Jann, in the Galilee region Thursday.
Ba’adani, a grandson of Rabbi Shimon Ba’adani, a member of the Shas Party’s Council of Torah Sages, was buried Friday in the capital’s Har Hamenuhot Cemetery in Givat Shaul.
During Ba’adani’s funeral, Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef lashed out against Jews who visit the Temple Mount, stating that they incited the violence that led to Wednesday’s terrorist attack.
Aqari reportedly vowed to carry out the attack Wednesday morning while at the Temple Mount.
Of the 12 other Israelis wounded, three remain in moderate condition, while one is in serious condition, Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem said Saturday.
Netanyahu accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting the attack through his reckless rhetoric.
“This attack was the direct result of the incitement of Abbas and his Hamas partners,” Netanyahu said. “This front of hate wants to run over all of us. Peace will come when Abbas stops calling Jews ‘defilers,’ and he stops embracing murderers.”
Meanwhile, on Saturday evening, Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said rioting erupted Friday afternoon in the Shuafat refugee camp where Aqari resided, although no disturbances were reported Saturday.
According to Rosenfeld, no serious injuries or arrests took place during Friday’s riot, in which police used stun grenades to disperse rock-throwing and firecracker-throwing Palestinians.
“Border Police quickly responded to the rioting in Shuafat and will continue to do so as long as there are disturbances,” he said.
No disturbances were reported on the Temple Mount following Friday prayers, amid what Rosenfeld described as a “strong police presence” coupled with strictly enforced age restrictions barring all Arab men under 35 from entering.