Netanyahu blames Abbas for car crash in Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is to blame for the car accident that took place earlier in the day in occupied Jerusalem, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday.

“That’s how Abu Mazen’s partners in government act,” Netanyahu said, using Abbas’s other name, “the same Abu Mazen who just a few days ago incited to an attack on Jews in Jerusalem.”

Netanyahu was referring to Abbas’s call on Friday for Palestinians to use “any means” necessary to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and bar right wing Jewish settlers from entering the compound.

After a meeting with Israel’s Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Police Chief Yohanan Danino and Shin Bet Head Yoram Cohen, Netanyahu ordered police reinforcements in the city.

“As I have said for months, the situation in Jerusalem is intolerable and we must act unequivocally against all violence taking place in the city,” he reportedly said in a statement.

“Today, more than ever, it is clear that we must send police forces into neighbourhoods, where there are disturbances, placing them strategically and widely in significant numbers,” he added.

His remarks came after a Palestinian man driving a car hit passengers at a light rail station in occupied Jerusalem. The man was immediately shot and killed by Israeli police at the scene, making it difficult to determine for certain the precise cause of the crash.

According to Haaretz, the man was identified as Abdel Rahman Al-Shaludi, a Palestinian resident of the neighbourhood of Silwan in occupied Jerusalem. He had previously spent time in Israeli prisons.

Early on Thursday morning, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon tweeted that the attack was the product of the Palestinian Authority promoting a “hatred for Jews”.

“There is and there never has been a culture of peace in the Palestinian Authority, only a culture of incitement and of jihad against Jews,” Ya’alon tweeted.

The events come against the backdrop of an increasing number of Israeli settlers moving into Palestinian homes in Silwan under armed Israeli guard, creating an even more threatening and insecure environment for the neighbourhood’s already aggrieved Palestinian residents.

Israeli ministers are now calling for stricter measures against Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, while the illegal settlers continue to enjoy special privileges.