TEL AVIV – Border police officers arrested a Palestinian man at a West Bank checkpoint on Monday on suspicion of intending to carry out a terror attack while President Donald Trump was visiting Israel, police said.
No further details about the planned attack were released, but Hebrew-language news site Walla reported that the attack was planned for Tel Aviv and not Jerusalem. Trump landed and took off from Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport, which is located about eight miles from Tel Aviv. The U.S. president did not visit Tel Aviv during his stay in Israel.
The man, a 38-year-old Palestinian from the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, was picked up at the Hizme checkpoint outside of Jerusalem.
The Border Police said in a statement that he had been handed over to “security figures,” which usually refers to the Shin Bet security service.
“His motivations are being investigated and have yet to be determined,” police said.
On Tuesday, a Palestinian knifeman was shot and killed when he attempted to stab border police officers at the Abu Dis checkpoint near Maale Adumim, two miles away from where President Donald Trump was visiting Jerusalem.
No officers were reported injured.
Security in Jerusalem and its surrounding environs was significantly tightened due to Trump’s arrival in the capital for a state visit, with approximately 11,000 police officers deployed to secure the president and his entourage.