The mayor of Jerusalem called on the city's residents on Thursday to carry weapons at all times as the security situation in the city continues to deteriorate in the wake of a wave of deadly attacks in the last week.
"Given the current escalation [of violence] in the security situation, those with a licensed firearm who know what to do with it must go out with [their weapon]—it's an imperative," Mayor Nir Barkat told Israel's Army Radio. "In a way, it's like military reserve duty. One advantage that Israel has is that there are quite a few ex-members of military units with operational combat experience. Possessing weapons increases the confidence of residents, who know that in addition to police there are many people who are not afraid to intervene."
In the past week, four Israeli citizens have been killed in stabbings in the holy city, two Israelis were killed in a drive-by shooting near the West Bank settlement of Itamar and six Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces. Thirteen Israeli citizens were wounded in attacks on Wednesday and Thursday across the country and the Palestinian Red Crescent said that almost 400 Palestinians were wounded in clashes across the West Bank on Wednesday, NBC News
reported.
