Itongadol.- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon addressed the Israeli public in a special press conference Thursday evening following a week of intense terrorism.
The terror attacks are supported by Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and neighboring countries in the region, he said, and most importantly, the Islamic Movement in Israel, which is inciting regarding Jewish presence in the Temple Mount.
Netanyahu confirmed that Jewish and Arab politicians will not be allowed on Temple Mount. “We do not need more explosions to ignite the region,” he said.
“The flames of radical Islam are consuming the region,” he said, “and they have reached us as well, but Israel is very strong, and Israelis are very strong.
After listing the various decisions made by the Security Cabinet over the past week, he added: “The means that I have detailed, and those I didn\’t detail, do not work immediately and magically,” he noted. “But over the course of time we will show that terror doesn\’t pay and we will defeat it.
In response to a question about the possibility of a large scale operation in Judea and Samaria, like Operation Defenseive Shield in 2002, he confirmed that "this is a new form of terror" that Israel is facing, but added : "We also know a thing or two about fighting terror."
Ya\’alon added that Israel\’s current test as a society is "the test of being able to hold firm, rather than the test of deploying total force." He said that Israel has been on the offensive since Defensive Shield and will use larger force if necessary.
\’We don\’t need to hide under a carpet\’
“I was asked today what to say to a mother who is afraid to send her child out to play. I want to say: your concerns are natural; but we don\’t need to hide under the carpet; we need to show awareness, follow instructions of authorities. Police and security forces are doing everything to return the security to you, and to all Israeli citizens.”
Netanyahu said that Palestinian Authority (PA) chief appears to have changed course regarding incitement. He noted that before the holidays, Abbas made a statement about “filthy feet” of Jews in the Al Aqsa Mosque, and similar propaganda was spread by the PA and senior PA officials.
This incitement, he said, “lit up the ground.”
“In recent days, it may be, I hope, that there is a change – perhaps an intentional one, because these flames may spread to Judea and Samaria as well. And that is a welcome change.
“The PA needs to stop these wild lies,” he said.
Netanyahu and Ya’alon insisted that IDF soldiers enjoy the full backing of the government in fighting terrorists.
Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan commended the bravery of police in dealing with terror attacks. He noted that instructions for opening fire have been changed and that security forces now shoot at firebomb and rock throwers.