Interior Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) announced Saturday that he would be looking into the possibility of revoking the residency permits of Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem participating in the ongoing deadly violence in the capital.
“I have ordered a review and recommendations… in order to expand my powers as Interior Minister to revoke the permanent residency status and social benefits granted to the Arabs in eastern Jerusalem who are involved in terror, incitement and violence,” the minister said at an event in Nes Tziona.
It follows Erdan’s decision last week to revoke the residency status of the wife of one of the two terrorists who carried out the brutal attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem.
That decision came after revelations that family members of the attackers – cousins Uday and Ghassan Jamal, who were shot dead by police at the scene – held celebrations and handed out candy after hearing of the gruesome rampage involving meat cleavers and a pistol.
Erdan’s initiative would join a raft of government measures aimed at deterring future attacks, including the resumption of the policy of demolishing the homes of terrorist murderers.
Arab violence in Jerusalem reached new heights last week with the deadly terrorist attack on the Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue in Har Nof, which killed five people and left several others seriously injured.
On Thursday, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat detailed his plan to bolster security for residents of the city.
Measures to be implemented as of tomorrow (Sunday) include tighter security for schools and education institutions, including the installation of 215 new safe areas for kindergartens; panic buttons linked to police centers; hundreds of CCTV cameras in and around schools and other educational institutions; and a significant increase in the number of police patrols.
In addition, Barkat announced he would be expanding efforts to enlist volunteers for neighborhood watch patrols, tightening security procedures at synagogues, increasing the use of police surveillance balloons and establishing operations rooms to coordinate security efforts in different areas.
Violence continued Friday when Palestinian Arabs once again attacked Jewish worshipers.
Two Jewish men were stabbed by Arabs as they made their way to prayers at a yeshiva in eastern Jerusalem.
The two men, aged 24 and 21, were making their way towards the Beit Orot yeshiva on the Mount of Olives when they were attacked. A Magen David Adom paramedic who was called to the scene told Channel 2 News that the two victims told him they were attacked with planks and were pelted with rocks.
