President Moshe Katzav: \"Under no circumstances will we let Israeli blood run free, and the State must protect its citizens and national security under all conditions. We will never adopt the same standards as our enemy - we would never dare to open fire on a school bus of children, or to cruelly lynch two citizens, or to take a bus and purposely mow down a group of people - but we are determined to fight with all the means to protect our security. We will not allow terrorists to walk around freely, inciting and giving orders to others to shoot and kill. The Palestinian leadership bears the full and direct responsibility for today\'s attack, with its incitement, its wild reactions against Israel, its lack of willingness to act to calm the situation. Arafat has not called on his people to stop the bloodshed - instead, they all hear his wild incitement, and see it as a green light to carry out more acts of this sort.\"
Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon said that the attack today shows that for the terrorists, there is no difference between the areas of Judea and Samaria and the rest of Israel.
Outgoing Prime Minister Barak sharply condemned the attack, and convened a meeting of his security advisors. It was reported earlier this morning that Barak was considering reneging on his plans to resign in order to continue in the post of Defense Minister. About today\'s murders, he said, \"This is further proof that the terrorists look for every way to shake our determination. We are a small but strong nation, and nothing will shake our drive and our hold on this land. I tell all the terrorists: we are strong, we are fighting for our very right to establish our Jewish nation and live in this land, and we will fight for this right as much as we have to.\"
NRP leader Rabbi Yitzchak Levy called on the various parties to shorten the negotiating time, and to agree at once to establish a unity government.
MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) demands that Prime Minister-elect Sharon assume the Defense Minister\'s authorities, \"in accordance with the will of the electorate.\" MK Sha\'ul Yahalom (National Religious Party) calls on Sharon to speedily conclude the formation of the government, and to implement an \"aggressive defense\" policy.
Outgoing Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami has a different view. He said today that the only way we can reach an agreement with the Palestinians is with international intervention: \"We must stop telling ourselves that we are the strongest nation in the Middle East, and realize that we cannot fight against the anarchy that presently exists in the Palestinian areas, on our borders. We need an agreement with very strong international enforcements.\"
A large crowd of angry citizens from nearby Yafo and Holon arrived at the scene of the attack shortly afterwards, demanding that effective security measures be taken against Yasser Arafat and his terrorists. The police arrested one man who, they claimed, wished to strike at Arabs working nearby.
American President Bush instructed Secretary of State Colin Powell to ask Arafat to take immediate action to end the violence. Bush condemned this morning\'s attack at the Azor Junction, and said that the cycle of violence in the Middle East must end. Bush spoke on the phone with outgoing Prime Minister Barak. Likud MK Moshe Arens, currently meeting with American leaders on behalf of Prime Minister-elect Sharon, reported to Sharon that Bush supports stopping the talks until the PA ceases all violence.
Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon said that the attack today shows that for the terrorists, there is no difference between the areas of Judea and Samaria and the rest of Israel.
Outgoing Prime Minister Barak sharply condemned the attack, and convened a meeting of his security advisors. It was reported earlier this morning that Barak was considering reneging on his plans to resign in order to continue in the post of Defense Minister. About today\'s murders, he said, \"This is further proof that the terrorists look for every way to shake our determination. We are a small but strong nation, and nothing will shake our drive and our hold on this land. I tell all the terrorists: we are strong, we are fighting for our very right to establish our Jewish nation and live in this land, and we will fight for this right as much as we have to.\"
NRP leader Rabbi Yitzchak Levy called on the various parties to shorten the negotiating time, and to agree at once to establish a unity government.
MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) demands that Prime Minister-elect Sharon assume the Defense Minister\'s authorities, \"in accordance with the will of the electorate.\" MK Sha\'ul Yahalom (National Religious Party) calls on Sharon to speedily conclude the formation of the government, and to implement an \"aggressive defense\" policy.
Outgoing Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami has a different view. He said today that the only way we can reach an agreement with the Palestinians is with international intervention: \"We must stop telling ourselves that we are the strongest nation in the Middle East, and realize that we cannot fight against the anarchy that presently exists in the Palestinian areas, on our borders. We need an agreement with very strong international enforcements.\"
A large crowd of angry citizens from nearby Yafo and Holon arrived at the scene of the attack shortly afterwards, demanding that effective security measures be taken against Yasser Arafat and his terrorists. The police arrested one man who, they claimed, wished to strike at Arabs working nearby.
American President Bush instructed Secretary of State Colin Powell to ask Arafat to take immediate action to end the violence. Bush condemned this morning\'s attack at the Azor Junction, and said that the cycle of violence in the Middle East must end. Bush spoke on the phone with outgoing Prime Minister Barak. Likud MK Moshe Arens, currently meeting with American leaders on behalf of Prime Minister-elect Sharon, reported to Sharon that Bush supports stopping the talks until the PA ceases all violence.