Israeli deputy minister: Palestinians must ask for calm
Israel's deputy minister for public diplomacy says Palestinian leaders must call for calm as tensions soar over security measures at the Temple Mount.
Michael Oren, who works in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke a day after a Palestinian stabbed three Israelis to death in their home and three Palestinians were killed during clashes over metal detectors Israel set at the entrance to the shrine following a deadly Palestinian attack there.
Oren said Saturday that the Islamic militant Hamas and other groups are exploiting the tensions to incite to violence. He said their claims that Israel is changing the delicate arrangement at the site, holy to both Muslims and Jews, are "emphatically untrue."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday he is freezing ties with Israel until the devices are removed. Oren said Abbas' declaration may serve a political need but it "cuts off the limb on which he sits."
