Naftali Bennett in the Old City
Naftali Bennett in the Old CityJewish Home Spokesperson

The Jewish Home party, a member of the coalition government, is holding a special faction meeting in Jerusalem's Old City on Tuesday, where they are to discuss the wave of terror attacks not far from the site where two Jews were stabbed to death Saturday night.

At the start of the meeting the MKs were given a briefing by Meir Tal, the IDF security officer of the Old City, who spoke about the rising pace of Arab terror in the Old City in recent weeks. He spoke about how Arab residents spit at Jewish residents, hurl firebombs, rocks, and generally harass them on a daily basis.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, said at the meeting that he had visited residents of the Old City during the Sukkot holiday, noting, "I met steadfast residents with security, but also with a difficult feeling of a lack of security in the alleys and streets."

"We came to tell residents of the Old City that we're with you. We'll return the security to the Old City, we'll return the security to the state of Israel," stated Bennett.

The minister said that earlier on Tuesday, Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had posted a call to release jailed Arab terrorists. He accused Abbas of standing together with the radical Islamist Movement in Israel "at the head of Temple Mount incitement, and he calls to release murderous terrorists from jail."

"I tell him clearly - forget about it. It won't happen. We won't release any more terrorists from Israeli jails," said Bennett. The topic of release is a sensitive one, particularly given that the last coalition government which Jewish Home was part of released 78 terrorists as a "gesture" to hold peace talks with Abbas.

"We are at the start of a change in direction," claimed the minister. "We are here in Hagai Street in the Old City, and our guiding principle is that the laws on Hagai Street in the Old City in Jerusalem are the same as the laws on Ibn Gavirol Street in Tel Aviv. The implementation of the law and sovereignty here needs to be identical to the implementation of the law in Tel Aviv streets. No spitting, no screaming, no harassment, no throwing rocks or firebombs. A policy of zero tolerance."

Bennett's comment directly echoes that of MK Nava Boker (Likud), who on Sunday said, "there is no difference between Judea-Samaria and Haifa or Tel Aviv - this [is all] the State of Israel."

The minister concluded by saying, "we're here so that in the coming months we will ensure, oversee and press so that things are implemented to return the security to residents of Israel."