Abbas is not intentionally inciting Palestinian violence, says the head of the Shin Bet intelligence service.
“Abbas is not interested in terror or inciting violence, even out of the public eye, despite the fact that some of the [Palestinian] public interprets that from his statements,” Yoram Cohen says, contradicting statements made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top politicians.
Cohen contends that the July revenge killing of Muhammed Abu Khdeir was a crucial event in creating the current situation, and visits by MKs to the Temple Mount and attempts to change the status quo to allow Jewish prayer have only added to the fire, Haaretz reports, citing officials who attended a meeting in the Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee where Cohen spoke.
He calls for maintaining the status quo and says that the public shouldn’t visit the Temple Mount at this time because it fans flames on the Palestinian side.
“The religious aspect that envelops this conflict is very dangerous and volatile.. We must do everything to calm the atmosphere,” he says.
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
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