JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed incitement by Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and others for the recent wave of attacks on Israelis.
At a news conference Thursday night broadcast nationally, Netanyahu said the past two days of terror attacks throughout the country were a direct result of incitement by those entities as well as neighboring Arab states and the Islamic movement in Israel.
At least eight stabbing attacks have taken place over Wednesday and Thursday.
“Terrorism didn’t start today, it’s been here since Zionism began. We will defeat it,” Netanyahu asserted, praising the “strong country of strong people.”
Netanyahu spoke directly to the mothers of Israel, telling them that their fear of sending their children outside is “natural,” and called on citizens to be “alert.”
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that terror in Israel has been ongoing since the second intifada that began in 2000. He said of the current terror wave: “We will not allow harm to the security of Israeli citizens and for their lives to be disrupted.”
Yaalon called the recent “lone wolf” attacks a “more complex challenge” that requires citizens to be more alert.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan praised the “heroism on the part of police and citizens.”
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