Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for unity following the death of five Israelis in a terrorist attack at a synagogue in west Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Commenting to Tuesday's events, Netanyahu said: "The animals who carried out this attack arrived at the synagogue armed with hatred and incitement -- fundamental hatred and intense incitement against the Jewish people and its state. Hamas, the Islamic Movement and the Palestinian Authority spread numerous stories, lies, about Israel. They say Jews defile the Temple Mount, they say we plan to destroy its holy places, that we seek to change the prayer arrangements on it -- these are all lies, and these lies have taken a very heavy toll."
The prime minister ordered a series of security and aggravated punitive measures meant to combat the security escalation in Jerusalem, including razing terrorists' homes and outlawing organization that endorse terrorism.
Netanyahu added: "What is truly shocking is not just the brutality of this massacre, but the rejoicing in Gaza, Bethlehem and other places over it. They give out candy and praise the 'shahids' [martyrs]. This time, Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] condemned the massacre … but at the end of that very sentence he linked it to imaginary acts by Israel, fictitious acts Israel allegedly carries out on the Temple Mount.
"Incitement is prevalent across the Palestinian Authority on a daily basis. They do more than just turn the most heinous murderers into Palestinian culture icons -- there is relentless incitement against Israel's very existence in schools, the media, and in mosques, and that is at the root of the conflict, their refusal to recognize the Jewish state's existence."
"We are in the midst of a fight for Jerusalem, our eternal capital. It is imperative that we unite, that we put our differences aside and focus on the greater goal -- defending Jerusalem and defending the Israeli public. What we need right now is national unity," Netanyahu said on Tuesday evening at a press conference.
'National unity government'
He urged all political parties to join his Likud in forming a unity government. "I call on all who care about Israel and Jerusalem's security to join us," he said. Coalition Chairman Zeev Elkin reached out Tuesday to the heads of the Labor, Meretz, Shas, Kadima and United Torah Judaism parties and offered them to join a national emergency government. Elkin offered each party one government seat, in the form of a cabinet member who would act as a minister without portfolio, in hopes of facilitating temporary cooperation over security concerns.
Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog rejected the offer outright. "Labor will not be part of a government whose polices fail to provide the Israeli public with security and hope," he said.
Referring to Israel's efforts to defuse the volatile tensions in Jerusalem, Netanyahu spoke of his meeting last week with Jordan's King Abdullah and US Secretary of State John Kerry. "Together, we called for cooler heads to prevail so we could restore calm, but unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority's answer came in the form of a day of rage in Jerusalem, and the result is right here before us."
The prime minister urged world leaders to "demand the Palestinians cease their feral incitement against Israel. I call on the leaders of the civilized world -- I want to see shock, outrage and censure, unequivocal censure, over these murders of Israelis, of Jews.
"Do not discriminate blood from blood," he continued. "Other murders evoke your shock and condemnation. These were Jews praying at a synagogue, a place as holy to us as churches are to Christians and mosques are to Muslims, and I expect to hear the same unreserved and unequivocal censure." Israel, he said, "will not tolerate this reality, we will fight terrorism and we will prevail. We will restore law, order, security, and peace to the streets of Jerusalem. We will settle the score with terrorists and whoever sends them as a state. We have proven we can do so in the past."
Netanyahu urged the public to be vigilant and abide by the law: "No one is allowed to take the law into their own hands, no matter how high tempers run. We are in a prolonged battle against terror. This did not begin today -- terrorism has clouded the Zionist enterprise throughout all its years. We have always prevailed and we will do so this time as well."
