With continued violence in the Jerusalem area and an escalation in the North, Netanyahu has vowed to stop incitement against the state by all means.
The driver of a police car on Friday evening in northern Israel shot and killed a 22-year-old Arab who had lunged at the vehicle, frantically waving a knife in what appeared to be a stabbing motion and hitting the window.
The incident took place in Kafr Kana, an Arab village in the Galilee.
According to reports, the driver of the police vehicle exited the car and shot the man, who had begun running and was later identified as Kheir Alhamdan.
A video captured several moments of the incident. Police claim they had fired warning shots in the air before shooting Alhamdan, although that was not evident in the video. The incident is under investigation.
What was clear in the video, however, was the apparent danger posed by Alhamdan.
Click below to view the video:
On Saturday, more than 5,000 Arabs demonstrated in protest of the shooting; many committed acts of violence such as throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. Twenty people were arrested.
The same day, two forest fires broke out in the area, and it is suspected that they were done purposely.
On Sunday, hundreds of Arab students held protests at several universities, with many referring to Alhamdan as a martyr. Slogans included, for example: “His only crime was being an Arab.”
Also on Sunday, Arabs throughout the country launched a general strike, including at schools and public institutions.
Speaking on Channel 2 TV, Member of Knesset Ahmed Tibi, known for his anti-Israel activism, called the shooting an “execution.”
At a police station in the northern town of Sha’ab, the Israeli flag was taken down and replaced with a Palestinian Authority flag. District police have begun an investigation.
More than 1,200 police officers were deployed in Arab areas on Sunday morning in anticipation of violence.
Netanyahu Blames Islamic Movements, including Palestinian Authority
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the situation at the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem Sunday morning, declared:
Police arrest youth seen throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails on Saturday at entrance to northern Arab village. (Photo: Hadas Parush/Flash90)
“Israel is a nation of law. Whoever violates the law will be punished severely. We will not tolerate disturbances and riots. We will take determined action against those who throw stones, firebombs and fireworks, and block roads, and against demonstrations that call for our destruction. We are not prepared to tolerate more demonstrations in the heart of our cities in which Hamas or ISIS flags are waved and calls are made to redeem Palestine with blood and fire, calling in effect for the destruction of the State of Israel. I have instructed the Interior Minister to use all means, including evaluating the possibility of revoking the citizenship of those who call for the destruction of the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu blamed the Islamic movements for inciting and funding the violence. He pointed not only to Islamic State and Hamas, but also to “the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas]. The website of their official body, Fatah, explains that the Jewish people were, in effect, never here, that the Temple was never here, that David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah and the kings and prophets of Israel are all fiction. This is nothing less than a clear attempt to distort not only the modern truth, but also the historical truth. Against these distortions and these gross lies, we must tell the truth to our people and to the world.”
“We must tell the truth to the supreme element that seeks our destruction and I mean Iran,” he stated.
Author: United with Israel Staff
What would YOU do if a crazed person was hitting your car window with a knife?