PM orders massive call up of Border Police troops amid terror surge

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a massive call-up on Saturday of Border Police forces in an effort to quell the ongoing wave of unrest and violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories that has seen a week of almost daily terror attacks against Israelis.

The PM “approved the mobilization of 13 Border Police companies, in addition to the three that have already been mobilized,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Saturday.

The three companies called up earlier were of Border Police reservists who will be deployed mostly in and around Jerusalem starting Sunday, Ynet reported.

The total number of those mobilized could reach 1,300-2,000.

The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office called the bolstered police presence a “primary preventive and deterrent measure.”

“I have ordered the mobilization of Border Police companies in order to restore security and order in Jerusalem and around the country. We will continue to do all that is necessary,” Netanyahu said, according to the statement.

In addition to the capital, reservists will be deployed along major highways, after motorists on Road 6 outside Kfar Saba were pelted with rocks by residents of the nearby Palestinian city of Qalqiliya earlier this week.

Mixed Israeli Arab cities where residents have clashed with police amid high tensions in recent days will also see heightened police presence.

On Sunday, Netanyahu will convene a discussion regarding Palestinian incitement, an issue he has repeatedly claimed is responsible for the ongoing terrorism against Israelis.

According to the statement from his office, Netanyahu has ordered security officials to come up with measures to combat the anti-Israeli messages and incitement coming from Israel’s own Islamic Movement group.

Claims that Israel intends to allow Jewish prayer at the contested holy site have been widely disseminated by Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Movement and others, despite repeated denials by Netanyahu and other top officials.

On Friday, Netanyahu told US Secretary of State John Kerry he expects the Palestinian Authority to put a halt to the anti-Israel incitement. According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Kerry said the US is aware that Israel is not seeking to change the status quo at the Temple Mount. In a statement, Kerry’s office said the status quo at the site must be maintained “in word and deed.”