Asia

Asia

Israeli PM blamed Abbas over Jerusalem terror attack

05 November 2014 18:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Israeli officials accused the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of provoking an attack that left one Israeli dead and 13 injured on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"The attack was the direct consequence of Abbas' incitement and that of his Hamas partners," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a ceremony remembering 19th anniversary of the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Netanyahu also said Israel is "engaged in an ongoing battle in Jerusalem" and that he is sure that "we will prevail," according to a statement from his office. He said that peace with the Palestinians would not be achieved as long as the Palestinians support terror.

Hamas claimed responsibility Wednesday afternoon for the attack in which one border police officer was killed and two others were seriously injured, as a Palestinian militant from northeast Jerusalem slammed onto a crowed at a light railway station, a second incident of its kind in the past month.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also criticized Abbas. In a letter launched to foreign ministers around the world, Lieberman mentioned the letter of condolence send by the Palestinian leader to the family of the militant who allegedly attempted to assassinate a prominent right wing activist last week.

On the other hand, left-wing politician Zehava Galon (Meretz) said the "despicable and loathsome" militant attack on Wednesday was the result of Netanyahu's policy in Jerusalem.

"Unfortunately, Netanyahu's government, which believes in managing the dispute continues to ignore the harsh reality in the city, moving on the axis between ignoring the situation and committing provocations in order to set the field ablaze," Galon wrote on her Facebook page.

"I hear the accusations against Abbas and the talk against Arabs in east Jerusalem by Israeli politicians. What are they after? More mandates in the polls from the right wing or calming down the spirits in Jerusalem?" she added.

"I call upon Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop his ministers from incitement and instigation, stop the construction and the attempts to take over east Jerusalem and quit his coward behavior of managing the conflict rather than striving for peace within which Jerusalem would be the capital of two states," she said.

Wednesday's incident took place amid growing tensions in Jerusalem between Jews and Arabs. Two weeks ago, a baby and a woman were killed in Jerusalem in a similar run over attack at a light railway station. The driver was shot dead by police at the scene.

Earlier on Wednesday, Palestinians and Israeli police forces clashed at the Al Aqsa mosque compound, a holy site to both Jews and Arabs, after Jews hardliners attempted to visit the site. One Palestinian was seriously wounded as a result of the clashes.

Last week, a right-wing Jewish activist, advocating for Jews' rights to worship in Temple Mount, was shot and seriously wounded. The alleged perpetrator, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem, was killed by Israeli security force.

Mr. Abbas as well as other Arab leaders, chiefly among them Jordanian leaders, accused Israel of trying to Judaize Temple Mount in particular, as well as east Jerusalem in general, amid further approvals of housing units for Jews in east Jerusalem territories, on lands annexed in the 1967 Mideast war.

Tensions have soared between Jews and Arabs since July, when Jewish extremists kidnapped and killed a 15 year-old Palestinian from east Jerusalem, following the kidnap and killing of three Jewish teens in the West Bank by Palestinian militants.

There have since been clashes between east Jerusalem Palestinian residents, hurling stones and firebombs at Israeli security forces, as well as attacks by Jewish extremists against Arab bystanders.

On Sunday, the Israeli government approved harsher punishments against rock throwers, allowing penalties of up to 20 years in prison for casting rocks or firebombs at vehicles.