From Rivlin says Shin Bet chief was ‘misunderstood’
Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen was not properly interpreted when he said that the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not deliberately inciting terror, President Reuven Rivlin says.
“Cohen said that Abbas’ is not interested in waging a fundamentalist war with us,” Rivlin tells Channel 2.
“Such fundamentalism can hurt [Abbas] after he lets go of the Muslim-Jewish issue.”
Rivlin says Abbas must do more in order to combat the instances of Palestinian violence in East Jerusalem.
“Abbas, however, is being dragged, when he condemns [terror attacks], it is not something that is sufficient. ”
“[Abbas] must say to his people, as a leader, enough, there can not be a situation in which a person raises his hand against another just because he is different.”
On Tuesday, Shin Bet chief Cohen told a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that, contrary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks, Abbas is not interested in fanning the flames of violence against Israel.
“Abu Mazen [Abbas] is not interested in terror and is not leading towards terror,” Cohen told the MKs. “He is also not doing that under the table.”
The Shin Bet chief’s remarks came a few hours after two Palestinian terrorists attacked a synagogue in the capital, killing four worshipers and injuring six others.
