Internal Security Minister, Yitzhak Aharonovi
Internal Security Minister, Yitzhak AharonoviYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Arab terrorism in Jerusalem will continue, outgoing Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich admitted Sunday.

On a visit to Shaare Tzedek Hospital, where several victims of recent terror attacks are recuperating, Aharonovich said that Israeli security officials are prepared for any scenario.

We have seen an increase in attacks in the past week,” Aharonovich said. “Police reacted swiftly in the attacks, such as the stabbing attack at the Patriarch's Cave in Hevron. The reaction in that case, in which the terrorist who started stabbing people was killed, was the proper one, and that is how security officials must react in any case of such attacks.”

Aharonovich was referring to an attack Saturday at the Cave, in which a border policeman was wounded after being stabbed by an Arab terrorist. The attacker was shot dead on the spot by other officers. The victim was evacuated to Shaare Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem with stab wounds to his upper body, after receiving emergency first aid at the site, and is in moderate condition.

According to eyewitnesses, the terrorist approached a checkpoint, drew a knife and immediately ran towards a group of border policemen, stabbing one of them repeatedly in the head and torso before being neutralized.

Terror attacks are likely to continue, said Aharonovich. “You cannot stop the lone terrorist who decides to carry out such attacks. We have added some 500 officers to patrols in Jerusalem in recent days.”

The Hevron incident was just the latest in what appears to be an increase in attacks on Jews in Jerusalem and surrounding areas. Shira Klein, who was seriously injured in the car terror attack in Jerusalem in which Shalom Yohai Sherki was killed several weeks ago, is still hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, and is now breathing on her own.

Klein and Sherki were the victim of a Palestinian Arab driver who deliberately rammed his car into a bus stop in the French Hill neighborhood. The attack was originally ruled an “accident” before police confirmed it was indeed a terror attack. Sherki, who was critically injured and taken to hospital where he later died, was recognized last week as a victim of terror by the State of Israel.

Meanwhile, a terrorist who who plowed down four people on the Kohanim Route in eastern Jerusalem neighborhood a-Tur on Saturday night has been arrested by intelligence officers and Border Patrol guards. The perpetrator is a resident of the Shuafat neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem. A policewoman in her 20s was moderately wounded in that attack. The three other officers are lightly injured.

In addition, a car in which Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat traveled to the location of the attack also came under assault when Arab assailants threw rocks at it. A rock caused light damage to the car but hurt no one.

Another terror attack was foiled Friday night, when an Arab youth aged 16 tried to stab a female Border Police officer at the A-Zaim checkpoint in eastern Jerusalem. Policemen at the checkpoint shot and killed him. The policewoman was not hurt.