Terror victim association Almagor responded to this morning’s brutal massacre at a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood.

“You cannot continue to wage a low-intensity battle in the face of a third intifada which is patterned after the Islamic State beheadings and stabbings. Israeli citizens are now paying the price for the containment and restraint policies opposite violent demonstrations that keep escalating into bigger and more extreme terror attacks,” they said.

Lt. Col. Meir Indor, head of Almagor, said “Israel should announce a second defense shield in Samaria, Judea and eastern Jerusalem, and within its framework, should effect the arrests of the 80 Palestinian Authority and Hamas representatives within these neighborhoods. The lists of their names exist—the decision [to take action], no.”

Meir Indor (Flash 90)

Lt. Col. (ret.) Meir Indor, Director of the Almagor terror victims organization, raised numerous security failures in a sharp letter to the Israeli Security Cabinet on Tuesday.

In light of two fatal terrorist attacks that occurred on Monday in Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion, Indor presented “a compilation of failures and proposals for putting an end to the present deterioration, curated from discussions with officers in the field and terrorism experts who advise Almagor.”

The first point raised in the letter is the fact that the attack in Gush Etzion on Monday in which Dalia Lemkos HYD was murdered took place at a bus station near Alon Shvut, which was “located 50 meters from the station where three young men were abducted this past June.”

“Pursuant to the recent series of automotive terrorist attacks, the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) regional command ordered the placement of barriers at transit hubs, especially those in the Gush Etzion area. Why were they never set up?” asks Indor.

Likewise, he asked, “why were the forces assigned to guard the intersection where the attack took place removed from it?”

Noting the limitation of Arab travel through Judea and Samaria imposed via roadblocks during the 2000 terror war or “Second Intifada,” Indor asked why the government has not taken similar steps in light of the recently escalating security situation since June.

“Why has travel not been restricted, at the very least, along the central artery along the communities of Gush Etzion? Why should Palestinians be permitted to travel freely along this route when it has virtually no relevance to them?”

The hard questions continued, with Indor noting “in the past, terrorists’ bodies were not returned to their families, but buried in a cemetery for terrorists in an undisclosed location. The government thus did not turn the terrorists into role models for young people by allowing massive funerals. Why is the government doing so today?”

Don’t Contain Violence—Fight It

Indor also called for a reconsideration of the management of internal security when faced with rampant terrorism, suggesting that “field commanders” be assigned to lead the efforts instead of the Israel Police, whose experience is in fighting the criminal world.

Noting that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other officials have accused Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of incitement for terror, Indor asked “why has a general curfew not been imposed on Judea and Samaria to combat open incitement?”

Combating the notion of “lone terrorists,” Indor noted such attacks are the product of organized incitement, which lead to demonstrations and result in “lone terrorists.” He called to put an end to the violent demonstrations and riots so as to prevent further escalation.

The Almagor director also criticized the “low-intensity warfare” doctrine guiding Israel’s attempts to contain violence instead of fighting it—”for instance, surrounding rock-throwers instead of confronting them.”

Indor called for more aggressive means to be taken, and likewise noted “authorities have failed to close Palestinian television and radio stations that engage in incitement as they did during Operation Defensive Shield.”

In a particularly troubling note, Indor added “security forces have not yet arrested Fatah and Hamas’ 80 inciters and organizers in eastern Jerusalem, who are financing and organizing the current terrorist activity. Precinct commanders have the list. Though most of the list was compiled by the ISA (Israel Security Agency or Shin Bet), preventive detention and restraining orders have not been employed.”

He added that this lack of action is “unlike the case of a Jew from the Neveh Ya’akov neighborhood whom the commander of the Home Front ordered expelled to Eilat for inciting his neighbors against Arab youths’ entry into the neighborhood.”

Nip Terror in the Bud Before It Kills

“Why is the unit of the Ministry of Justice responsible for acting against incitement not fighting for the arrest of those publishing the anti-Jewish incitement now pervasive online? Why is the cyber crime unit of the Israel Police not acting against this incitement?” asks Indor.

“Had the two aforementioned agencies acted promptly and decisively, two terrorists who published incitement would have been arrested before they had the chance to commit yesterday’s attacks,” he added in a reference to the Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion attacks.

Indor noted that the Arab terrorist who committed the murder in Gush Etzion on Monday was released from prison after only a few years for throwing an incendiary bomb, asking “why are terrorists who throw incendiary bombs—a clear case of attempted murder—sentenced to 5 years in prison instead of 20? What is their goal in throwing incendiary bombs if not to murder?”

Regarding breaches of security fences, by which the terrorist who committed the attack in Tel Aviv was able to illegally enter Israel, Indor asks why regulations are not being enforced at the fence, and why forces are not given orders to shoot those infiltrating illegally.

Finally, Indor asks why additional deterrent measures have not been launched, remarking “a terrorist who embarks on an attack knows that if he is caught, he will only spend a few years in a five-star prison, then be freed as a hero with a salary from the Palestinian Authority. Even if the terrorist is killed and becomes a shahid (martyr), he knows that the Palestinian Authority will give his family a monthly stipend.”

“The government must rectify these two failings by enacting measures to truly worsen imprisoned terrorists’ living conditions and by destroying terrorists’ families homes and expelling them to Jordan, Lebanon, or Gaza,” demanded Indor.

Jailed Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti (Photo credit: Reuters)

Jailed Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti, the former leader of Fatah’s Tanzim military wing who is serving five life sentences in Israeli prison for involvement in terrorist attacks during the Second Intifada, has been sent to a seven-day stint in solitary confinement after calling on Palestinians to resume armed struggle against Israel. Barghouti also received a fine.

Earlier this week, Barghouti sent a letter to Palestinian leaders in which he wrote, “The Palestinian leadership must reconsider its policies regarding the unarmed popular struggle and allow the Palestinian people to return to armed struggle against the occupation.”

Barghouti also called on Palestinians to “immediately halt security cooperation with Israel and stop the coordination between the occupation security forces and the Palestinian security forces.” Barghouti is considered to be a candidate to succeed Abbas as chairman of the Palestinian Authority.

Following the letter, the Almagor Terror Victims Association called for Barghouti to be stripped of some of the rights granted to Palestinian prisoners.

Marwan Barghouti (Flash 90)

The Almagor terror victims’ organization on Tuesday called on Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch to take legal and administrative measures against arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, following his letter in which he called for “armed resistance” against Israel.

In the letter to mark 10 years since the death of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Barghouti said that “choosing global and armed resistance” was being “faithful to Arafat’s legacy, to his ideas and his principles for which tens of thousands died as martyrs.”

“It is imperative to reconsider our choice of resistance as a way of defeating the occupier,” he wrote.

Responding to the letter, Almagor said that after being sentenced to six life sentences for murdering Israelis in terrorist attacks, Israel must make clear that Barghouti is not immune from further punishment and the imposition of additional penalties.

“As an immediate measure, he should be isolated from any contact with outside visits and any contact with other prisoners, so that he is blocked from issuing inciting letters from prison,” the organization said.

Barghouti, who is widely believed to have masterminded the second intifada, which exploded across Israel from 2000 to 2005, wrote the letter from his cell in Israel’s Hadarim prison.

Barghouti is widely perceived as a popular choice to replace Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, whose term in office expired several years ago.

From his jail cell, he has threatened Israel in the past with a third intifada, albeit an unarmed one, and has declared he “would not give up and I claim that the right of return is a sacred right of the Palestinians.”

He recently accused the PA of neglecting the issue of terrorist releases and called for all Palestinian Arab terrorist groups to put his release on the top of the agenda.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses supporters in Ramallah during a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death, Tuesday (Photo credit: AP)

The Palestinian Authority marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat on Tuesday, with thousands of Palestinians attending a rally in Ramallah at which PA President Mahmoud Abbas delivered an inflammatory speech in line with Arafat’s legacy.

Abbas accused Israel of leading the region toward a “religious war” and claimed Israel was responsible for the escalation of violence at the Temple Mount and in east Jerusalem.

“Leaders of Israel are mistaken if they think they think they can rewrite history, establish facts on the ground and divide the Al-Aqsa mosque in terms of prayer times and prayer sites, as they did at the Cave of the Patriarchs [in Hebron],” Abbas said, to applause from the crowd.

“The leadership in Israel apparently does not realize that it is leading the region and the world to a bloody religious war that will bring destruction to the entire region. The Muslim and Christian worlds will never accept Israel’s claims that Jerusalem belongs to it. Jerusalem is our capital, and there will be no concessions. The Jerusalem that was captured in 1967 is our Jerusalem, and our responsibility is to protect and defend the holy places.”

Abbas’ words drew a sharp response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Abbas was making matters worse.

“Instead of calming tempers, he is inflaming them,” Netanyahu said. “Instead of educating his people for peace, [Abbas] is educating them for terror attacks.”

In his speech, Abbas also attacked Hamas, accusing the terrorist group of undermining Palestinian reconciliation efforts after a seven-year rift. Fatah and Hamas agreed in June on the formation of a unity government, but Hamas, which violently seized Gaza in 2007, continues to control the coastal enclave.

Abbas accused Hamas of carrying out a series of bombings on the homes of Fatah leaders last week that led to the cancellation of what would have been the first Arafat memorial ceremony in Gaza since 2007. He also said the group was blocking post-Operation Protective Edge reconstruction efforts.

“For whose interest are they blocking the reconstruction?” Abbas said. “The only losers are our people, while you sit in your houses and hide out.”

Meanwhile, jailed Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti, the former leader of Fatah’s Tanzim military wing who is serving five life sentences in Israeli prison for involvement in terrorist attacks during the Second Intifada, called on Tuesday for Palestinians to resume armed struggle against Israel.

In a letter he sent from jail to Palestinian leaders, Barghouti wrote, “The Palestinian leadership must reconsider its policies regarding the unarmed popular struggle and allow the Palestinian people to return to armed struggle against the occupation.”

Barghouti also called on Palestinians to “immediately halt security cooperation with Israel and stop the coordination between the occupation security forces and the Palestinian security forces.” Barghouti is considered to be a candidate to succeed Abbas as chairman of the PA.

Following the letter, the Almagor Terror Victims Association called for Barghouti to be stripped of some of the rights granted to Palestinian prisoners.

A man lights a candle at a makeshift memorial for the victims of the October 22 terrorist attack at the Ammunition Hill light rail stop in Jerusalem. (Photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)

Almagor Terror Victims Association is preparing a database of released terrorists so businesses can look up potential employees, accusing the Justice Ministry and Israel Police of negligence for not doing so themselves.

The initiative comes a week after Moataz Hejazi, a terrorist released from Israeli prison, attempted to assassinate Temple Mount activist Yehudah Glick outside the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.

Hejazi worked in Terasa, the restaurant in the museum, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and other senior officials have dined. Terasa’s management said after the attack that they did not know Hejazi had been in Israeli prison for multiple stabbings and murder attempts.

“We checked, and the police and Justice Ministry do not have any system of warning workplaces,” Almagor director Meir Indor explained, demanding that they establish one to limit terrorists’ easy access to Israelis.

Families of terror victims have already begun voluntarily providing the organization with details about the terrorists and whom they killed or injured, and requested that the ministry provide them with information about the terrorists’ locations.

Indor pointed out that the justice minister does give information about pedophiles freed from jail.

As to whether prisoners should be rehabilitated in prison and have the chance to start a normal life when released, Indor said the academic theories on the matter do not apply to terrorists.

“These aren’t just criminals; they’re terrorists,” he said. “All of the theories on rehabilitation that are taught in social work departments in universities don’t work with the Muslim motivation to wage a terrorist war against Israel.”

Indor accused the government of not “connecting the dots” after Wednesday’s two vehicular terrorist attacks, saying they were avoidable and raise serious questions.

The Almagor chairman pointed out that Ibrahim al-Aqari, who perpetrated the first attack, was the brother of a terrorist released in exchange for then-captive soldier Gilad Schalit.

“This one saw his brother the murderer become a local hero and released from prison, and then followed in his brother’s footsteps,” he said. “How is it that [the government] failed to arrest the terrorist who committed the murder despite his publication of incitement and praise of murderers?” Indor called for the immediate arrest of the dozens of persons known to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) who live in east Jerusalem and incite violence and organize the “ongoing intifada” in the capital.

“The current of violence is an organized campaign orchestrated by the Palestinian Authority and its president, precisely as stated by Israel’s prime minister—but the prime minister is not a commentator. His government’s job is not to make declarations but to take action!” he said.

The Justice Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.