After East Jerusalem attack, Israel ‘has to begin by questioning itself’
Israel has made some Palestinians feel that their only means of resistance is violence as Israel has done its utmost to ensure that they have no “sustainable model of politics”, according to Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political analyst based in Tel Aviv.
“Many Israelis ask where the Palestinian Nelson Mandela is at the moment, and the answer is either at a cemetery or in an Israeli prison. Israel has done everything it can to break any attempts on the part of the Palestinians to try and explore different paths, paths that are not violent like the ones we saw today,” he said, referring to the attack in East Jerusalem that killed at least five people.
He said that while Palestinians have also played a part in the failure of Palestinian politics, Israel is “by all means the stronger party” and bears most of the responsibility.
“Israel has done everything it can to break the Palestinian Authority, to arrest any semblance of a political leadership that might be amenable to a political process with Israel and to deny such a political process vehemently and repeatedly at all levels of the Israeli government,” he said.
“So when Israel looks for answers as to why this happened today, it has to begin by questioning itself.”
‘Palestinian Authority must disappear from the map’: Smotrich
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the PA to be wiped from the map, and the villages of those behind the attack in occupied East Jerusalem to be reduced to ruins in retribution.
In a post on X, Smotrich condemned the “severe and horrific attack” on a bus in East Jerusalem, which Israeli officials say was carried out by Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.
“The State of Israel cannot accept a Palestinian Authority that raises and educates its children to murder Jews,” said Smotrich.
“The Palestinian Authority must disappear from the map, and the villages from which the terrorists came should look like Rafah and Beit Hanoon,” he added, referring to Palestinian cities in Gaza which have been devastated by Israel’s war.
Ben-Gvir to Israelis: ‘Go arm yourselves’
Israel’s far-right national security minister calls on Israelis to “arm yourselves” after the shooting attack in Jerusalem that has killed at least six people.
In a post on X featuring a video of Ben-Gvir speaking alongside Netanyahu near the scene of the Jerusalem attack, Ben-Gvir praised an “act of heroism” by three ultra-Orthodox men at the scene – a soldier and two civilians – for stopping the attack.
“This was an act of heroism by a soldier from the ultra-Orthodox Hashmonaim Brigade and two ultra-Orthodox men who received weapons as part of the weapons reform,” he said, referring to his policy that has loosened gun ownership laws and fast-tracked permits for Israelis.
“I said that weapons save lives. We must remember that. I call on the citizens of Israel – go and arm yourselves.”
