Jerusalem: Hamas Fills Void Left by Fleeing Jews

JERUSALEM—Israel’s security forces have abandoned several East Jerusalem neighborhoods, according to Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief Yuval Diskin. With Israel out of these areas, Hamas is moving in.

“Neighborhoods are being abandoned … and it leaves a vacuum where Hamas operates,” said Diskin, about areas within the separation barrier that are completely void of Israeli police or army patrols. The absence of police allows terrorists to smuggle in weapons and build up their infrastructure. This makes it even harder for the police or army to deploy in these areas in the future, creating a vicious cycle of terror buildup.

A few weeks ago, Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit said that “dozens of terrorists” had entered Jerusalem under family reunification laws, instituted with the encouragement of the high court. These laws allow Arabs from Judea, Samaria and Gaza to join their families in other parts of Israel and gain Israeli identity cards.

East Jerusalem is a great concern for Israelis at the moment. Twenty percent of attacks in the last five years have involved Arabs from East Jerusalem. Three terrorists killed 11 people this year, and they were all from East Jerusalem.

So far this year, Israeli security and intelligence services have arrested 71 Arabs in Jerusalem—a figure that is already double the total from last year.

East Jerusalem is becoming more radical. More attacks are coming from the area, and more weapons are flowing in, and even Hamas is gaining a foothold in the area. In the area of army patrols, along with many others, Israel is demonstrating that it just does not have the will to hold on to East Jerusalem. For more information, see our article “Bulldozing Jerusalem” from the latest print edition of the Trumpet.