Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beytenu) praised a sense of "closure" regarding the attempted murder of Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick on Thursday, after Yamam SWAT teams eliminated the Islamic Jihad terrorist responsible just hours after the shooting.
"This is closing the circle," Aharonovich wrote on Facebook. "SWAT forces, along with the Israeli police, Border police, and Shin Bet, eliminated Glick's shooter accurately and quickly."
"We will not allow terrorism to raise its head in Jerusalem," he continued. "May the Israeli police and security system reach every terrorist, every villain."
Glick - who founded and heads the LIBA Initiative for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount - was shot in the chest on Wednesday night outside the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, after the shooter pulled up in a motorcycle or scooter and confirmed his identity before shooting.
He had been speaking, minutes before being shot, at an event for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount that had hosted leading religious figures and MKs. Likud MK Moshe Feiglin with with Glick as he was shot.
Earlier Thursday, Israeli Special Forces (Yamam) eliminated 32 year-old Mu’taz Hijazi of Abu Tor in East Jerusalem, the prime suspect in the shooting, after he resisted arrest.
Aharonovich, along with Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino, has become a focal point for criticism over what many perceive as an inadequate response to the constant cycle of violence in Jerusalem - prompting much drama around goings-on in the police and the government over how the attacks have been handled.
His praise for Thursday morning's operation surfaces just as frustration over Aharonovich's career appears to have come to a head, after a series of major attacks were played down by his Ministry, including the murder of 27-year-old construction worker Netanel Arami hy"d last month and 19-year-old Shelly Dadon hy"d earlier this year.