Amid new Arab Muslim terrorist attacks, Netanyahu bans law makers from Temple Mount to appease Jordan and Obama
JERUSALEM — An Arab attacker stabbed four Israelis with a screwdriver on Thursday before a soldier shot and killed him amid fresh violence that prompted Israel’s premier to bar Cabinet ministers and lawmakers from a sensitive Jerusalem holy site at the heart of the latest tensions.
The attack in Tel Aviv was among three new stabbings on Thursday that left several people wounded. A series of similar attacks in recent days … have shocked Israelis and raised fears of a new uprising.
The screwdriver-wielding assailant stabbed and wounded four Israelis, including a female soldier, near a busy Tel Aviv road before being shot dead, Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said. The attacker’s identity was not immediately known.
Earlier, Samri said [an Arab] teenager stabbed a 25-year-old Israeli in the neck in Jerusalem, wounding him seriously, before police arrested the attacker. In the West Bank, an Israeli man was seriously wounded when [an Arab] stabbed him in the stomach. Israeli forces were searching the area for the assailant after he fled the scene.
[Arab Muslims] meanwhile clashed with Israeli forces in a number of locations in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to ban lawmakers from the holy site appeared to put him on a collision course with [others] within his own governing coalition, who have been pressing for a harsh crackdown and settlement expansion in the West Bank.
But Netanyahu likely fears that a tougher response could anger the U.S. administration [Obama] and lead to “increased casualties on both sides”, risking the outbreak of a full-fledged uprising like those in the 1980s and 2000s.
… The latest [Arab Muslim terrorism] began about three weeks ago as [Arabs] repeatedly barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque, located at the sacred site, and hurled stones, firebombs and fireworks at the police.
The violence later spread to Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem and to the West Bank, and on Tuesday there were disturbances in Jaffa, a largely Arab area of Tel Aviv.
[PLO] President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he would not allow his people to be “dragged” into more violence with Israel.
… Dozens of [Arab Muslims] threw stones at Israeli troops near the West Bank city of Ramallah and elsewhere on Thursday. Israeli forces responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
In another sign of tensions, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat — a former military officer and licensed gun owner — defended his decision to carry a weapon during a visit this week to an Arab neighborhood. On Thursday, he encouraged other licensed gun owners to also carry their weapons [in order to protect their lives].
“One of the advantages Israel has is that there are many veterans of military units with operational combat experience,” he said. “Having a weapon increases the resident’s confidence.”
