More Police Sent to Tense Sheikh Jarrah

For the third consecutive night, the Yerushalayim neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah saw violent clashes between Palestinians, right-wing Israeli Jews and the police.

The Red Crescent reported four injuries among Palestinian protesters.

Police used stun grenades to disperse a group of Palestinians in the area, according to Haaretz on Monday night. But so far, no arrests were reported.

The turmoil continued to surround the presence of far-right MK Itamar Ben Gvir, who returned to his makeshift “office” in the neighborhood, declaring that he will not leave until there is security for Jewish residents.

“It’s nice here and I’m staying,” he quipped, adding “We own Israel. We own Yerushalayim.”

He accused the government of abandoning Jewish families who have moved into the predominantly Palestinian neighborhood, which has been at the center of tensions for some time, and said that the plan to help secure the neighborhood with more cameras, “is not serious.”

“Unless there is security, I am not moving,” he declared. “If there is security, I’ll move on to my next thing.”

Earlier on Monday, police reinforcements were sent to Sheikh Jarrah where further unrest was threatened.

Mayor Moshe Lion said that he and senior police officials agreed to “significantly bolster police forces in the neighborhood, to boost residents’ feelings of safety, and to install a “modern security system” to increase protection and identify perpetrators of crimes.

Ben-Gvir had dismissed the proposed cameras as a “not serious” response to the problem of lack of security for Jewish residents.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused the far-right Religious Zionism MK Itamar Ben-Gvir of stirring up trouble for political gain after he tried to set up a makeshift office—a table under an awning—in the neighborhood on Sunday, after the firebombing of a Jewish home over the weekend.

“We don’t need provocations from people on either side inflaming tensions for political interests,” Bennett said, just before his departure for Bahrain on Monday.

He also said the firebombing of a house is “unacceptable,” and that police reinforcements are being dispatched to ensure the safety of residents.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz tweeted earlier that police and other security agencies were taking “severe measures against any terror incident, including the burning of a home in Sheikh Jarrah.”

Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu, defended Ben-Gvir, who fainted while being removed by police, and said he condemns “violence” against the lawmaker.

Netanyahu declared: “This is not ‘Sheikh Jarrah’ – this is Yerushalayim, this is our capital. We are united in our demand from the police to maintain order and security for the residents of the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood, just as we demand that peace and security be maintained everywhere in the state of Israel.”

Ben-Gvir, who appeared on Monday morning with a bandage around his head, accused Public Security Minister Omer Barlev of instructing officers to beat him up. Barlev denied that he had given such an order.

The MK released an image of a letter from Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital discharging him from the emergency room and confirming that he had suffered a head injury.