Netanyahu: Palestinian incitement behind terror attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried “ongoing incitement” in Palestinian media Sunday, arguing that “the Palestinian Authority cannot shake responsibility” for a recent rise in West Bank incidents, including a weekend attack that injured a girl in the settlement of Psagot.

Speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that “the Israeli government views the depraved attack on a nine-year-old girl in Psagot with great severity.” 

The girl, Noam Glick, was injured Saturday night while playing in the yard outside her home. She said she was shot by a Palestinian gunman at very close range; however, authorities said later that they had not established whether her wounds were the result of a shooting or a stabbing.

The perpetrator had likely escaped the area, the IDF said early Sunday. The search was set to continue throughout the day, and Psagot residents were told they could return to their normal routine, after overnight fears that the attacker was still hiding out in the settlement.

Netanyahu also addressed the meetings he held last week with US officials on the Iranian nuclear program. “The important thing is that we act to deny Iran the capacity to enrich [uranium],” he said. “We are not opposed to diplomatic negotiations with Iran; we are insisting that these negotiations result in Iran relinquishing its enrichment capacity.”

Amid warming relations between the US and Iran, Netanyahu called for continued sanctions on the Islamic Republic. “There is no reason to ease the sanctions before the goal of removing Iran’s enrichment capacity is achieved,” he concluded.