Netanyahu Slams Hamas, Palestinian Leadership After Jerusalem Synagogue Attack

1 minute read
By Dan Kedmey

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Palestinian Authority and militant group Hamas for spreading “hatred and incitement” against Jews in a news conference Tuesday, hours after assailants burst into a Jerusalem synagogue and killed four people.

Authorities said two Palestinian men armed with a gun, knives and axes entered a synagogue in West Jerusalem early on Tuesday and committed the most serious attack yet after weeks of clashes around the Temple Mount, also known as the Noble Sanctuary. The four victims were Rabbis; three were dual U.S. citizens and the fourth was British. Eight others were wounded.

Chaos and Mourning in Jerusalem After Synagogue Attack

An Israeli police officer gestures as he holds a weapon near the scene of an attack at a Jerusalem synagogue, Nov. 18, 2014.
An Israeli police officer gestures as he holds a weapon near the scene of an attack at a Jerusalem synagogue on Nov. 18, 2014.Ronen Zvulun—Reuters
Israeli emergency personnel take out a body of an Israeli man outside a synagogue on Nov. 18, 2014 in Jerusalem.
Israeli emergency personnel remove the body of an Israeli man from a synagogue in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2014.Ilia Yefimovich—Getty Images
People react as they stand outside a synagogue on Nov. 18, 2014 in Jerusalem.
People react as they stand outside a synagogue in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2014.Ilia Yefimovich—Getty Images
Israeli police crime scene investigators stand near bodies of suspected attackers outside a synagogue on Nov. 18, 2014 in Jerusalem.
Israeli police crime scene investigators stand near bodies of suspected attackers outside a synagogue in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2014.Lior Mizrahi—Getty Images
Israeli security personnel run next to a synagogue, where a suspected Palestinian attack took place, in Jerusalem, Nov. 18, 2014.
Israeli security personnel run next to a synagogue, where a suspected Palestinian attack took place, in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2014.Ronen Zvulun—Reuters
A bullet hole in a synagogue's front glass seen from inside and looking outwards to the Har Nof neighborhood in Jerusalem, Nov. 18, 2014.
A bullet hole through the front window of a synagogue in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2014.Jim Hollander—EPA
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish youths look at the scene of a shooting attack in a synagogue in Jerusalem, Nov. 18, 2014.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys look at the scene in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2014.Sebastian Scheiner—AP
Mourners gather for the triple funeral of Rabbi Kalman Levine, Avraham Goldberg and Arieh Kupinsky on Nov.18, 2014 in Jerusalem.
Mourners gather for the funerals of Rabbi Kalman Levine, Avraham Goldberg and Arieh Kupinsky in Jerusalem on Nov.18, 2014. Ilia Yefimovich—Getty Images
Ultra-Orthodox Jews carry the body of Mosheh Twersky during his funeral in Jerusalem, Nov. 18, 2014.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews carry the body of Mosheh Twersky during his funeral in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2014. Oded Balilty—AP

Netanyahu singled out Hamas for blame, accusing the group’s leaders of inflaming tensions by libeling Israel “every hour, constantly, through the schools, in the media, in the mosques.”

He also condemned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who had earlier spoken out against Tuesday’s attack, for proceeding to “connect it to all sorts of imaginary events that ostensibly Israel performs at the Temple Mount which does not take place.” The perpetrators’ homes, Netanyahu vowed, would be demolished.

MORE: Fears of Religious Conflict After Synagogue Killings

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