Content area
Full Text
Excerpt from report in English by privately-owned Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post website on 1 March
[Report by Ya'aqov Katz, and Tova Lazaroff: "Fayyad is Inciting Violence, Defence Officials Charge"]
Palestinian [National] Authority officials headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, are inciting anti-Israel violence in the West Bank, defence officials charged on Sunday [28 February] as violent demonstrations spread from Hebron to Jerusalem's Old City.[Passage omitted]
Defence officials said they were concerned that the violence in Jerusalem on Sunday was an indication that Palestinian unrest was spreading and could possibly escalate into a wave of violence throughout the West Bank.
As a result, the IDF is under instructions to restrain itself out of fear that an aggressive military response could be used as an excuse by the Palestinians to escalate the violence. At the same time, the Civil Administration has been in contact with the PNA, urging it to restrain its forces and rein in demonstrators.
According to assessments within the defence establishment, senior PNA officials and specifically Fayyad, are encouraging Palestinian youth to...