Take fight to terrorists, Jerusalem’s mayor urges
City’s policy is to ‘ take action, to engage’
The last time Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat visited Toronto, in 2014, his mayoral counterpart was in rehab, and the president of t he United States, Barack Obama, would soon criticize Israel for the death toll of its anti-terrorist invasion of Gaza.
What a difference a few years can make.
Today, Barkat, 57, has a blossoming friendship with Toronto Mayor John Tory, with whom he shares a background in the business of technology, and an ideological alliance with Donald Trump, the new U. S. president, with whom he shares a “shoot first, ask questions later” approach to terrorism.
And with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his record fourth term, Barkat said the time might soon be right f or his own shot at national politics, presumably by replacing Netanyahu at the head of the Likud Party, which Barkat recently formally joined.
But not yet. “I have a lot of work still to do in the city,” he said in an interview the morning after speaking with Tory at a gala for The Jerusalem Foundation.
This might mean seeking a third and final term in the mayoralty he first won as a non- sectarian candidate in 2008, after retiring as a massively wealthy tech entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and star on the Israeli version of Dragon’s Den.
Nicknamed t he “oneshekel mayor” for his refusal to take anything more than a nominal salary, he was re- elected in 2013, with a mandate to continue fost ering his ancient city ’s booming tech hub.
One major political goal was t orpedoed j ust l ast week by the Trump administration, however, when it announced America will not move its embassy from the financial centre of Tel Aviv, where Canada also has its embassy, to Jerusalem, the “eternal capital” of the Jewish people.
“We want to fix that irregularity,” he said. “We want to make sure that the world understands that in any potential deal, if we ever do a deal with the Palestin- ians, the city of Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people, period. If we need any proof, put a shovel in the ground anywhere you want, and you will see Jewish roots going back 2,000, ( or) 3,000 years. Legally, this is our land more than anybody else’s land.”
This is a deeply symbolic issue. Jerusalem is holy to Islam, Christianity and Judaism. This week marks the 50th anniversary of what Barkat called the “reunification” of Jerusalem, when Jordanian forces were expelled in the Six-Day War.
This same event is remembered by Palestinians as Naksa Day, a time of mourning for displacement. A key part of almost any “two- state solution” would be for a new Palestinian state to have its capital in East Jerusalem, much of which is now cut off by Israel’s security barrier.
Barkat said the embassy decision has not spoiled his trust in Trump, even though i t was a clear campaign promise.
“My advice to him is don’t wait,” he said. “I think he will do it... You should also know one more thing. In the Middle East, if you stutter, you are perceived as weak. And my recommendation is not to stutter. Believe in what you do, and do it. If it’s the right thing, you just do it, period.”
He also defended Trump’s wisdom of assigning the Middle East peace file to his son- in- law ( and Barkat’s fr i e nd) Jared Kushner, and he even criticized the Obama administration with a well- worn Republican talking point. “Obama actually had a tough time to even define radical Islam. The t wo words, radical Is l am, he could barely, he couldn’t say those two words,” Barkat said.
“I think the world is starti ng to understand what we’ve gone through,” he said, meaning attacks in Paris, Nice, Berlin, Manchester and London have given the West a sense of the perils of daily Israeli life.
“Radical Islam is active, more than i t was in the past, and it forces people to rethink how they operate relative to the threat. We’ve done that,” he said, adding that he shared notes with Tory on this issue.
Barkat has greater personal credibility on anti- ter- rorism than most people. In 2015, he and his bodyguard confronted a rampaging terrorist on the street. The bodyguard aimed his gun, the terrorist dropped his knife and Barkat took him down.
More than just a politician’s war story, this is official policy in Jerusalem.
Unlike in London, for example, where last week police urged people to “Run, Hide, Tell,” i n Jerusalem civilians are encouraged to “take action, to engage.” So today, fully one third of the “neutralizing” of terrorists in Jerusalem is by civilians, Barkat said.
“Look, terrorists want to kill you,” Barkat said. “You’ve got to neutralize them as fast as possible.
“And in our city, it’s amazing, because in many places in the world, we see in a terror attack, people run out of the scene and rely on security forces.
“In our case, if it’s a lone wolf and others, you see people, including residents, run to the scene and jump, to stop the guy. And while in some cases people lost their lives doing so, but they saved others.”
YOU’VE GOT TO NEUTRALIZE (TERRORISTS) AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.