Meretz head attacks PM for praising coexistence
In a special Knesset plenum session ahead of Jerusalem Day on Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said there is coexistence between the Jewish and Arab residents of the capital city – sparking the rage of the radical leftist Meretz party.
“United Jerusalem is developing in giant steps, we don’t need to make excuses for our presence in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu told the Knesset, despite accusations from nationalist activists that he is dividing the city in practice.
He referenced the UNESCO resolution from April divorcing the Temple Mount from the Jewish people, even though the Mount is the holiest site in Judaism where the First and Second Temples stood.
“UNESCO recently decided that the Temple Mount has no connection to the Jewish people,” said Netanyahu. “This is an absurd and infuriating claim. It is ridiculous, but this ridiculousness and lie is gaining a foothold worldwide.”
Noting on the anti-Semitic nature of the resolution, he said, “historical distortions such as these are reserved only for the Jews.”
Netanyahu referenced how the Temple Mount was regularly used to incite the current Arab terror wave, particularly by the Palestinian Authority (PA), and he called to make sure “this explosive is not redeployed” during the approaching Muslim month of Ramadan.
“The incitement around the Temple Mount had an important part in igniting the terror of individuals as it has been termed,” he said.
Speaking about Jerusalem, he said, “the coexistence exists and we must preserve it, for all the foreseeable future.”
Read More: Meretz head attacks PM for praising coexistence – Inside Israel – News – Arutz Sheva