JERUSALEM—The Palestinian and Israeli leaderships took a step back from the brink Tuesday as tempers in both camps reached boiling point in a mounting cycle of violence.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has drawn Israeli ire for failing to condemn the murder of four Israeli civilians and attacks on others over the past five days, called on his security chiefs to quell the unrest among West Bank Palestinians who have been pelting Israeli targets with stones and firebombs. Israeli sources reported Palestinian riots at 25 locations in the West Bank Monday and in East Jerusalem as well. Abbas said his security forces must curb the rioting in order to deny Israel an excuse for a West Bank crackdown.
Israeli officials, for their part, have told their counterparts in the Palestinian Authority (PA) that Israeli security forces will take firmer steps to prevent violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians, according to a PA official. Settlers have pelted Arab cars and houses with stones since the drive-by murder last Thursday on the West Bank of an Israeli couple whose four young children were in the back seat.
Security officials from the two camps have stepped up contacts in recent days as the unrest threatened to spiral out of control. Netanyahu has attacked members of his own party and coalition who have called for a crackdown on the Palestinians and attacked his government, of which some of them are members, for showing weakness.
"We are in a long struggle," he said, "and it does not need militancy."
However, after conferring with security officials he announced a list of steps aimed at deterring terrorist activity including demolition of the homes of convicted killers, the increasing use of administrative detentions—the jailing of suspects without trial—and the large-scale installation of cameras on West Bank roads and their linkage to command centers.
"We've smashed numerous waves of terrorism in the past and we will also smash this wave," he said. Netanyahu said that steps will also be taken against several Arab shop owners in the Old City who laughed at, cursed or spat at the wife of one of the men killed in a stabbing incident in the Old City when she called on them for help. She herself had been stabbed and was bleeding.
According to Palestinian officials, Israeli officials have told them there will be a reduction in Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount now that the Jewish holidays have ended. The Temple Mount has been a focus of the Arab unrest, with Palestinians citing the number of Jewish visitors as an indication that Israel wishes to challenge Muslim control of the holy site.
Under a status quo drawn up by Israeli officials after the 1967 Six Day War, de facto control of the Mount remains in Muslim hands even though Israel claims sovereignty over the site. The agreement permits visits by non-Muslims, including Jewish Israelis, Christians and tourists, at hours acceptable to the Muslim religious leaders.
In the past year or more, the number of Israeli visitors has increased significantly, including of religious settlers, easily identifiable by their garb. Abbas said during his speech to the General Assembly last week that Israel was permitting "extremists" to enter the Mount and that this is a sign that it plans to change the status quo in Israel’s favor. Netanyahu has adamantly rejected the charge, saying the status quo will remain unchanged.
Although the status quo forbids Jewish prayer on the Mount a right-wing minister, who is also a settler leader, publicly uttered a prayer during his visit last month, according to press reports.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials announced the arrest of a five-man Hamas cell they said was responsible for the murder of an Israeli couple gunned down as they drove on a West Bank road with their four young children in the back seat. Security officials said that one of the two gunmen accidentally shot his partner in the hand, which, they said, might be the reason they did not kill the children as well.
The arrests were made in the city of Nablus by special forces wearing Arab dress, working in collaboration with soldiers and police. One of the men detained was snatched from a hospital bed. He may have been the one shot by his partner, sources said.