MK Yatom: Must be division between east, west Jerusalem
Knesset member refers to Thursday's attack on yeshiva, which was carried by east Jerusalem resident, and calls for division of capital city
"We couldn't have prevented an attack in which the attacker originates from Israel because in east Jerusalem there are Palestinians with blue identity cards (who can move about freely). How many more attacks will we need to go through in order to understand that this is freedom of movement is dangerous?" Knesset Member Dani Yatom rhetorically asked in Beersheba on Saturday.
Yatom addressed Thursday's terrorist attack on the Mercaz Harav seminary in Jerusalem that left eight dead saying: "(Israeli-Arabs) can get to any town in Israel. We must ensure some sort of supervision so those who live in east Jerusalem and have blue identity cards can't cross into Israel without regulation and monitoring.
"There must be a division between residents of east and west Jerusalem," the Knesset member emphasized.
He added that someone that supports terrorism should not be granted national insurance allowances. "The terrorist's family should no longer receive national insurance payments," he declared.
Yatom also mentioned the rally that took place last week in Umm al-Fahm in which Israeli-Arabs burned an Israeli flag. He said that whoever burns Israeli flags is basically saying that Israel has no legitimacy and thus "should be punished."
Yatom discussed the recent escalation in the Gaza Strip saying: "I oppose a broad offensive in the Gaza Strip because it won't succeed in crushing Hamas. We must continue IDF activities as is being done today, that is to say, pinpoint strikes and a 'security area' larger than the one today should be demarcated. That way, whoever enters into it will be killed.
"In addition, we must try to craft a ceasefire on our terms."
Raanan Dinur, director general of the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office, who also spoke in Beersheba on Saturday, said that the government is investing a lot of resources to finance the fortification and remodeling of bomb shelters in Sderot and Ashkelon.
"Additionally, the security establishment is operating in Gaza and the activities are getting results," Dinur said.
