Israel’s security establishment is on a heightened state of alert in the wake of the President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The IDF has deployed troops to points of friction and other sensitive locations along the seamline. Units that were in training were instructed to be on standby because of the announcement by Palestinian organizations calling for days of rage and with a view to the Muslim Friday prayers tomorrow. A security official told TV7 that Israel is concerned that the growing tension will spark riots on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, which might then spread to Palestinian cities across the West Bank. He said that Israel’s defense establishment has learned its lessons from previous incidents and has ordered the soldiers and the Border Police to maintain restraint, even in the event of an escalation in violence, so as to reduce as much as possible the number of Palestinian casualties and to prevent a further deterioration of the situation.
