Shin Bet chief contradicts Abbas 'incitement' accusations, points finger at Abu Khdeir murder

The head of Israel’s security service Shin Bet, Yoram Cohen, has directly contradicted accusations by PM Netanyahu and other ministers regarding the role of Mahmoud Abbas in so-called ‘incitement’.

Cohen made the remarks at a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday, a discussion that took place hours after a deadly attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem.

“Abu Mazen [Abbas] is not interested in terror and is not leading [his people] to terror. Nor is he doing so ‘under the table'”, Cohen said.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the senior official also told MKs that it was the murder of Palestinian teenager Mohammad Abu Khdeir in July which was “a decisive event in advance of the outbreak of major clashes in East Jerusalem in recent months.”

Cohen added that confrontations focused on al-Aqsa mosque compound, “including the ascent to that holy site by MKs, as well as proposed legislation that would change the status quo in the compound”, only “exacerbated the reactions in East Jerusalem neighbourhoods.”

The Shin Bet chief also urged public figures to desist from entering the compound at this time, due to the “very dangerous and explosive” religious dimension of the conflict: “We have to do everything possible to instill calm”, he said.