Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday condemned a Palestinian terrorist attack on a Jerusalem synagogue in which four Israelis were killed and 13 wounded.
“The Palestinian presidency has always condemned the killing of civilians on either side, and condemns today the killing of worshippers at a synagogue in west Jerusalem,” a statement from his office said.
The statement comes after senior Israeli officials blamed Abbas for the attack, pointing to a slew of remarks made by the PA leader which directly encouraged violence against Jews.
In a statement following the attack – in which two Palestinians stormed a synagogue in Har Nof with axes, knives and a gun – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Abbas must shoulder some of the blame, and challenged the international community to hold the PA leader to account for incitement.
“This is the direct result of the incitement being led by Hamas and Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas – ed.], incitement which the international community is irresponsibly ignoring.”
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman made similar remarks.
“An attack which is perpetrated in a synagogue during prayers is the biggest indicator that for all of these despicable acts of murder by terrorists, the responsibility lies entirely with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas,” Liberman said in a Facebook post.
“Abbas has deliberately turned the conflict into a religious one between Jews and Muslims, and the systematic campaign that he leads against against Jews – including his definition of who isn’t pure and should not be allowed go on the Temple Mount, is instructing these attacks,” he continued, directly referring to comments Abbas has made about Jews visiting the Temple Mount and in which he called Muslims to use “all means necessary” to prevent them from doing so.
“It is incumbent upon the international community to condemn Abbas’s anti-Semitic remarks, which lead to massacres such as what has taken place this morning, and to clarify to him that someone who leads in this way cannot be a legitimate political leader.”
