Netanyahu Vows ‘Sharp Reaction’ to Terror Attempts on Jerusalem Residents
Attempts to attack Jerusalem residents “will be met with a sharp reaction,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu held a security consultation Thursday afternoon at Israel Police headquarters in Jerusalem a day after a terror attack on the city’s light rail killed a 3-month-old girl and injured seven.
“United Jerusalem was — and will remain — Israel’s eternal capital. All attempts to attack its residents will be met with a very sharp reaction; we will restore quiet and security to Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said following the meeting.
Netanyahu said he has ordered additional security for Jerusalem, including more Border Police units, lookouts, intelligence and enforcement measures.
“These, along with other steps that I will not detail here, can and will restore quiet to the capital,” Netanyahu said. “We have proven that with determination and patience we can achieve these goals in all parts of the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu again charged that the attacks in Jerusalem are supported by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, “who both extols the murderers and embraces the organization that the terrorists belong to, Hamas.”
He also condemned the international community for showing “weakness” against Abbas’ actions.
“They are not prepared to utter so much as a word of criticism against him. We have no such weakness,” Netanyahu said. “We will insist on our rights and on our obligation to defend our capital. We will do strongly – and we will win.”
Joining Netanyahu at the security meeting were Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Israel Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino, Israel Security Agency director Yoram Cohen, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Jerusalem District Police Commander Moshe Edri.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO