ISRAELI SECURITY forces will be on a high state of alert today, the anniversary of the capture of Arab east Jerusalem in the 1967 Arab-Israeli Six Day War.
Israel fears a repeat of the events of Sunday and last month, when large demonstrations took place with hundreds of Palestinian refugees trying to breach Israel’s borders.
The Israeli-Syrian border, the site of fierce clashes on Sunday, was quiet yesterday. Syrian troops set up two roadblocks and prevented demonstrators getting there, said reporters.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu blamed Syria for Sunday’s violence, accusing the authorities in Damascus of deliberately encouraging tension on the border to divert attention from Syria’s internal unrest.
“We stand firm in our right to protect our citizens and our border and will do this with restrain and responsibility,” he said.
Syrian opposition sources claimed the authorities had paid Palestinian refugees to participate in the border protests, with large payments promised to the families of anyone killed in the clashes.
Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak said Syrian president Bashar al-Assad had lost his legitimacy and would fall from power. He said that under the current circumstances, Mr Assad could not be considered a legitimate negotiating partner and there was no chance for renewing stalled bilateral peace talks.
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon called for “maximum restraint” following Sunday’s clashes and expressed deep concern over the violence.
Syria claimed that 23 protesters were killed and more than 300 wounded by Israeli troops who opened fire to stop the marchers breaching the border. However, Israeli military sources accused the Syrians of exaggerating and claimed the real number of fatalities was closer to 10. The sources said eight of those killed were victims of mine explosions that occurred after demonstrators set fire to a mine field.
A Labour member of the Knesset, Benjamin Ben Eliezer, said Israel had no answer to protesters marching on its borders and any attempt to explain its actions to the world was a lost cause.
In an interview with Israel radio, he predicted that the protests would intensify leading up to the expected UN vote in September endorsing Palestinian statehood.
He criticised the government of Mr Netanyahu and said the only way out of the impasse was for Israel to recognise a Palestinian state and to begin immediate negotiations towards a two-state solution without preconditions.