Settlers press for more police in Old City of Jerusalem
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 7/25/1998

Israel decided to remodify its original plan for extra police protection for Jewish settlers in the Old City of Jerusalem by increasing the police force currently on duty in the city. The decision was taken in light of the intensive pressure that was put on the Israeli government by the ultra right wing Ateiret Cohanim settlement group, which has taken over dozens of Arab houses in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Ateiret Cohanim is an active group in the settlement field and receives enormous amounts of money and support for American Jewish financier Irving Moskowitz. Moskowitz was the mastermind and financial power behind the takeover of a number of Arab properties and houses in the Old City of Jerusalem, in Ras Al Amoud neighborhood and in Jabal Abu Ghaneim where the Jewish settlement of Har Homa is planned on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

In a meeting that was held recently at his office, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu instructed his finance minister, Yaakov Neeman, to furnish the Israeli police with an immediate amount of US $5 million to cover the preliminary cost of the plan. Police minister Avigdor Kahalani and West Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert were present. Kahalani had requested some $20 million but Neeman strongly opposed this and said his budget could not allow him to meet all the police demands. It was Netanyahu who finally intervened and instructed Neeman to pay. Neeman, Israeli press sources said, felt uneasy with the decision and might not give more money to the plan at later stages.

Over the past few weeks, the unemployment rate has increased in Israel, causing tension between Netanyahu and Neeman. Israeli economic sources anticipate a major confrontation between the two over a possible decision by Netanyahu to resort to an electoral economic campaign that would add to the government's deficit but still increase his chances to be reelected. Netanyahu believes that early elections are somewhere down the road before the end of his current tenure and wants to make sure that should Israelis be requested to go to the ballot boxes, his name would be their choice.

In mid-June, police minister Kahalani approved a grandiose security plan for Jerusalem's Old City, the original cost of which was estimated at a few million dollars. Within the plan, 200 video cameras were to be posted in the alleyways of the Old City, to record events 24 hours a day. The purpose of the cameras was to assist in preventing attacks on Jewish settlers and in apprehending settlers' Palestinian assailants. The plan included an increase of technical devices, manpower and buildings. A special chapter was dedicated to cooperation with private companies that furnish the Jewish settlers with bodyguards.

The main theme of the plan is to place numerous sophisticated video cameras capable of day and night photography, in the alleys and on the roofs of the Old City. A situation room will be established at the police station in Jaffa Gate where all photographs will be received and troops are dispatched for action. Additional police forces are to be added to the present force.

Advanced technological devices will be placed at the Western Wall plaza to turn it into a fortified zone. X-ray machines and devices for "sniffing out" explosives will be place at the bulletproof revolving door. Sniper posts will be constructed, and the police stations near the Western Wall will be renovated. But Jewish settlers in the Old City of Jerusalem protested and said they wanted to see more police forces in the alleyways of the Old City.

For them, it seems that the mere image of heavily armed policemen roaming the streets of the Old City has a deterrent factor against Palestinians more than any technological device can.

Previous Stories:
  US Jewish organization exposes East Jerusalem settler funding   (7/22/1998)
  Security map strips Netanyahu naked   (7/1/1998)
  Israeli settlement activities financed by USA gambling operation   (3/19/1998)

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