Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening at his Jerusalem
office, issued the following statement to the media:
"We are in the midst of a terrorist assault focused on Jerusalem.
shawls and tefillin, four rabbis were slaughtered, four innocent
and Rabbi Moshe Twersky. May their memories be blessed.
We send our condolences to their families. We send our best wishes
for a recovery to the wounded and to the heroic policemen whose
action prevented a greater disaster. The human animals who
perpetrated this slaughter were full of hatred and incitement, deep
hatred and terrible incitement against the Jewish People and its state. Hamas, the Islamic Movement and the Palestinian Authority are disseminating
countless lies and falsehoods against the State of Israel. They are
saying that the Jews are contaminating the Temple Mount. They
are saying that we are planning to destroy the Holy Places, that we
intend to change the order of prayer there – this is all lies. These
lies have already claimed a very heavy price. They took the life of a
three-month-old baby, Chaya Zissel Braun, who had been taken for
her first visit to the Western Wall, along with her parents, who
wanted to thank G-d for giving them a baby. They also claimed the
Sgt. Almog Shilony and Dalia Lemkus. All of them were pure souls. All of them were victims
of this mendacious incitement. Today they are joined by additional
victims of the same wild blood libel of the kind that is etched in the
memory of our people.
Yesterday a bus driver from eastern Jerusalem committed suicide.
He committed suicide. The findings of the pathology report have
been published and they prove this unequivocally. He committed
suicide. But this has not prevented those same elements from
inciting and disseminating the blood libel to the effect that he was
murdered by Jews. This incitement contributed its part to the
shocking slaughter that was perpetrated this morning in a holy
place during prayers. But what is outrageous is not only the
brutality of the murder but the shouts of joy in Gaza, in Bethlehem
and in other places. They are giving out candies, waving axes in
the air and praising the shahidim. True, this time Abu Mazen
condemned the slaughter and it is good that he did. I remember that
he also condemned the murder of the three youths but it is not
enough because in the same sentence in which he condemned
today's slaughter, he linked it to imaginary actions – which have no
basis in reality – that Israel is purportedly planning to carry out on
the Temple Mount. There is daily, even hourly, incitement on the
streets of the Palestinian Authority. There, not only do the most
reprehensible murderers become the heroes of Palestinian culture,
but there is unending, constant incitement against the very existence
of the State of Israel, against the security of Israel's citizens, in
schools, the media,
mosques, everywhere, and this is the root of the conflict: The refusal
to recognize – and educate for – the existence of the state of the
Jews.
Last week I traveled to Jordan and held a very important meeting in
Amman with King Abdullah and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Together, we called to calm the situation and for the restoration of
quiet. To my regret, the answer that we received from the
Palestinian Authority was to declare a day or rage in Jerusalem. And
today we all saw the result. The world sees this slaughter but, to our
regret, does not demand that the Palestinians stop the wild
incitement against Israel that is the root of the conflict. I call on all
heads of state in the civilized world – I want to see outrage. I want
to see condemnation, a deep and uncompromising condemnation of
hese murders of Israelis, of Jews. Do not discriminate between
blood and blood. When there are other acts of murder you express
the same outrage and condemn them. But when I see a
three-month-old baby being murdered, when I see these Jews at
prayer in a synagogue, our holy place, just as a church is holy for
Christians and a mosque is holy for Muslims, I expect to at least
hear the same condemnation, in an uncompromising and unreserved
tone. To my regret, there are those who currently insist on giving
he Palestinians a prize in the form of unilateral recognition of a
Palestinian state that does not recognize the state of the Jews. We
will not tolerate this reality; we will fight terrorism and we will
defeat it. We will restore law, order and security to the streets of
Jerusalem.
This evening I ordered the demolition of the homes of the terrorists
who perpetrated the massacre and the hastening of the demolition of
the homes of the terrorists who perpetrated the earlier attacks. I
ordered stepped-up enforcement against – and stiffer punishments
or – those engaged in incitement, as well as the banning of
organizations engaged in incitement, and increased security on the
streets of Jerusalem. Alongside offensive actions there are also
defensive actions.
Citizens of Israel, I call on you to show maximum alert and to
respect the law. As a state, we will settle accounts with all of the
terrorists and those who dispatched them. We have already proven
that we do this, but let nobody take the law into his hands, even if
tempers flare and blood boils. We are in a lengthy war against
abhorrent terrorism which did not start today. Terrorism has
followed us through all the years of the Zionist enterprise. We have
always withstood it and we will do so this time as well.
There are those who would like to uproot us from our land and from
our capital. They will not achieve their aim. We are in a battle for
Jerusalem, our eternal capital. In this battle we must be united; this
is the order of the day. We have always known to unite in times of
trial. We must put aside all of the little differences and unite around
one major issue – defending Jerusalem, defending the security of
Israel's citizens. I think that this is what the citizens of Israel expect
of us at this time – to stand together as one, unified and united.
What is called for at this time is national unity."
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