Days after a deadly ramming attack in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his ministers in the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that he would soon convene the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet to discuss measures that would crack down on terrorists with "our full force".
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Among the measures being considered are seizing assets belonging to the families of terrorists, erecting barriers at bus stops and additional security checkpoints between predominantly Arab and Jewish neighborhoods in the capital, as well as a general crackdown on online incitement, according to media reports.
Following Friday's attack, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for a major operation in eastern Jerusalem in the vein of the IDF's 2002 "Operation Defensive Shield," which was launched during the Second Intifada to uproot terrorist infrastructure in Palestinian urban areas across Judea and Samaria.
However, a senior government official told Hebrew-language media that Ben-Gvir lacked the authority to approve such a decision, which would need to be made by the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet.
Six-year-old Yaakov Israel Paley and 20-year-old Alter Shlomo Lederman were killed instantly on Friday when they were run over by an Arab Israeli driver in Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood. Eight-year-old Asher Menachem Paley, Yaakov's brother, died over Shabbat from wounds sustained in the attack. Three others were injured and are currently being treated at hospitals.
Terrorist Hussein Karaka, 31, a resident of the Issawiya neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem, was shot dead during the attack. His social media accounts included posts hailing terrorism against Israelis, such as a Facebook post last August praising Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh.
Police on Sunday morning sealed the home of Karaka's parents in eastern Jerusalem's Abu Tor, in which he had rented an apartment.
Netanyahu has ordered the reinforcement of security forces in Jerusalem. "Our answer to terrorism is to strike it with all our might and further deepen our hold on our country," he said.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
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