Zain Khalil
29 January 2023•Update: 29 January 2023
JERUSALEM
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has held National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responsible for a shooting attack that killed at least seven Israelis near a synagogue in occupied East Jerusalem.
"You are responsible, hold the responsibility instead of looking all day for a person to blame," Lapid told the local Ynet radio.
"This man does not know how make anything, he is living in the TikTok [mobile application] and looks for someone to blame," Lapid added.
The opposition leader also accused Ben-Gvir of failing to carry out his duties as national security minister.
The accusation came after seven Israeli settlers were killed in a shooting attack near a synagogue in Neve Yaakov settlement in East Jerusalem Friday night.
On Saturday, Ben-Gvir accused Israel's Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of being late in ordering the closure of the house of the Palestinian attacker.
Israeli settlers verbally attacked Ben-Gvir as he visited the scene of the attack on Friday. A video published by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper showed the far-right minister while being escorted away by police amid verbal altercations with settlers.
Ben-Gvir triggered a storm of Palestinian condemnations on Jan. 3, when he visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem amid warnings of unrest.
Ben-Gvir holds far-right views on the Palestinians and has called for their displacement. He has repeatedly joined Israeli settlers in storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.
In November, Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned in a leaked audio that "the whole world is worried" about Ben-Gvir’s far-right views.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a request by Ben-Gvir to allow settlers to organize a "provocative" flag march in Jerusalem.
Friday’s synagogue attack came one day after nine Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar
