Kerry to Netanyahu and Abbas: Condemn Violence, Restore Calm in Israel
Image by Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for efforts to restore calm in Israel during telephone conversations with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Kerry over the weekend spoke with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas about the current wave of violence throughout Israel, the State Department said in a statement.
The statement said that Kerry called the leaders “to express his deep concern over the recent wave of violence and offer his support for efforts to restore calm as soon as possible. He reiterated the importance of strongly condemning violence and combating incitement, and taking affirmative steps to reduce tensions.”
Kerry also “stressed the importance of upholding the status quo in word and deed at the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount and of preventing inflammatory rhetoric and actions that will increase tensions.”
The secretary of state that he would follow the situation “closely” and that the U.S. will “remain engaged in efforts to restore calm.”
Netanyahu said in a statement that during the phone conversation, he “made it clear that he expects the Palestinian Authority to stop its wild and mendacious incitement, which is causing the current wave of terrorism.”
The statement also said that Kerry “clarified that the U.S. is aware of the fact that it is Israel’s policy to maintain the status quo and not change it.”
The status quo at the Temple Mount, a holy site for Jews and Muslims, allows Jews to visit but confine obvious worship to the adjacent Western Wall while leaving the day-to-day administration of the mosque compound to a Muslim authority, the Waqf.
Netanyahu on Saturday ordered the reinforcement of Israel Police units, mobilizing three reserve Border Police companies for Jerusalem and 13 others throughout the rest of the country.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
