Palestinian Attacks On Jerusalemites Rise From 200 To 5,000 A Month, Reveals Mayor Barkat

The security situation in the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, is a dire one, as Israeli and Palestinian Arabs intensify their “Intifada” in the city, against the Jewish Jerusalemites who live there.

While the Israeli authorities have been more in denial than anything else about the recent wave of sporadic violence gripping the “Holy” city, the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, said during a session of the Knesset’s Interior Committee on Monday, that attacks on Jews have increased from an average of 200 per month to a staggering 5,000!

Barkat also told the committee that the increase in violence, in his opinion, coincided with the recent war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Even before Operation Protective Edge, the state of affairs in Jerusalem as regards riots, rock throwing and enforcement was shoddy. We were talking about 200 events of rock throwing [per month]. Even before Protective Edge, we held a discussion about the changes needed to bring back the rule of law in Jerusalem. The Arab residents are complaining about the situation no less than the Jews.

According to Mayor Barkat, an unprecedented 509 percent increase in violence against Jews has taken place since Operation Protective Edge.

“Protective Edge began – and we jumped from 200 events to 5,000 events. Throwing rocks on cars is life-threatening, as is throwing firebombs at the homes of Jews who live in Arab neighborhoods. There is a huge mass of disturbances. The Jerusalem police fanned out with its available forces as defense. It defends Jewish homes and the seam line, and we all realize this cannot continue.”

Meanwhile, MK Miri Regev, the committee chairperson, accused the police of failure to provide security in Jerusalem in general and on the Temple Mount in particular.

“East Jerusalem is a part of Jerusalem, this is our capital. A person who riots in Jerusalem should be treated just like someone who riots in Taibeh or Tel Aviv,” she said.

And, according to Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich, the violence increased at the time of the abduction and murder of three yeshiva students, which was followed by the murder of an Arab teen, and that matters got worse during Operation Protective Edge and “the holiday season.”

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued instructions to speed up the legislation of a law stiffening punishment for rock-throwers, which would mandate prison terms of up to 20 years in some cases.