TEL AVIV – Superintendent Micky Rosenfeld, foreign press spokesman for the Israel Police, says he does not believe there is any connection between the increase in attacks in the last 24 hours and Vice President Joe Biden’s visit here at the same time.
“I don’t think there’s a connection,” Rosenfeld told Breitbart Jerusalem. “We’ve seen ups and downs for weeks. There are also changes on the ground at times with Israel Defense Force and police operations taking place. So the sudden attacks are not necessarily connected (to Biden’s visit).”
Rosenfeld confirmed that enhanced security measures have been put into place for Biden’s visit, including additional protection in Jerusalem, where the vice president is staying.
Yesterday, citing defense officials here, the Jerusalem Post reported Biden’s trip to Israel “may have served as the trigger for Palestinian assailants to commit attacks against Israelis on Tuesday.”
The Post provided no further information on the matter.
An American tourist was killed and at least ten others wounded, four seriously, in terrorist stabbing attacks perpetrated by the same individual at two locations in Jaffa, the port city located just south of Tel Aviv.
The attacks took place as U.S. President Joe Biden was in Jaffa, speaking at the Peres Center for Peace, Breitbart Jerusalem reported.
The Peres Center is located about half a mile from the section of Jaffa’s port that was the scene of the attack. Jaffa is part of the Tel Aviv municipality.
Sources in the Israeli security establishment told Breitbart Jerusalem that immediately after the attack, massive police reinforcements were called in to help secure the ongoing event at the Peres Peace Center, which was already tightly secured.
The sources, who spoke minutes after the attack took place, told Breitbart Jerusalem at the time there was no immediate information to indicate that the stabber timed his attack to coincide with Biden’s visit to Jaffa.
The Jaffa stabbing was just one of three attacks that took place within about two hours of each other. One Israeli was moderately wounded in a terrorist stabbing attack in Petah Tikva, located about nine miles south of Tel Aviv. Before that, two Israelis were wounded in a shooting attack near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to the Old City.
On Wednesday, two terrorists from Kafr Aqab in eastern Jerusalem carried out a combined vehicular and stabbing attack near the Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City and the scene of scores of attacks and attempted attacks in recent months. A Palestinian civilian was seriously wounded that attack.
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.
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