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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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November 18, 2014
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Israel
Blames Abbas, Promises Harsh Response to Synagogue Terror Attack
by IPT News • Nov 18, 2014 at
10:17 am
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Israeli political leaders are blaming Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas for inciting Tuesday's bloody terrorist attack inside a Jerusalem
synagogue that killed four people and injured eight others. The two
terrorists, who carried axes and a gun, also were killed in a shootout with
police.
The attack took place in a synagogue in Jerusalem's Har Nof
neighborhood. All four murder victims were rabbis. Three of them, Aryeh
Kopinsky, Moshe Twersky, and Calman Levine, were dual American-Israeli
citizens. The fourth, Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, was a British-Israeli
citizen. Twersky's grandfather is an iconic figure in modern Orthodox
Judaism.
"This is the direct result of the incitement being led by Hamas and
Abu Mazen (Abbas), incitement which the international community is
irresponsibly ignoring," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "We will respond with a heavy
hand to the brutal murder of Jews who came to pray and were met by
reprehensible murderers."
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman echoed that, saying "the responsibility rests entirely with the
Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has deliberately
turned the conflict into a religious conflict between Jews and Muslims and
the systematic incitement he leads against Jews, including his statement
that impure Jews may not enter the Temple Mount, provides the guidance for
such heinous attacks."
Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, on the other hand, reportedly told Knesset members in a classified meeting that he
did not agree with those assessments.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility. The slaughter drew immediate praise from Hamas and the Palestinian
Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
A PIJ statement called the attack "a natural response to the
crimes of the occupier." Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said it was in revenge for the death of a Palestinian
found hanged in a bus Sunday night. An autopsy determined it was a suicide.
"Hamas calls for more operations like it," Abu Zuhri said.
Another Hamas spokesman, Mushir al-Masri, posted a graphic cartoon on
Facebook glorifying the attack on Jews as they worshipped.
The attack triggered celebrations in Gaza, with people hailing the
killers as martyrs, holding up axes and others passing out sweets.
Secretary of State John Kerry called Netanyahu Tuesday to offer condolences over the
attack, describing it as an "act of pure terror and senseless
brutality" and called on the Palestinian leadership to condemn it
"in the most powerful terms."
Kerry also reportedly cited Palestinian incitement, including recent
calls for "days of rage" and said Palestinian leaders need to
tamp down their rhetoric.
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