MK captures Palestinians crossing illegally into Jerusalem

Zvi Sukkot says breach is same route used by terrorists who murdered six in Ramot attack.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

While walking in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of northern Jerusalem earlier this week, a Knesset member took immediate action after noticing two Palestinians trying to infiltrate the capital.

MK Zvi Sukkot, along with a friend, neighborhood activist Yedidya Epstein, captured the pair of young men after they came through a breach in the security fence.

A short video shows the chairman of the Knesset Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria examining their ID cards and confirming that they came from Qalqilya, a major city in the Palestinian Authority about 80 kilometers from Jerusalem.

Sukkot and Epstein called the Border Police and detained the infiltrators, who sat on the ground quietly until the authorities arrived to take them away for questioning.

According to Sukkot, this break in the fence is the same one through which two terrorists entered Israel and carried out an attack on a bus at the Ramot Junction last month, murdering six and wounding dozens more.

He called the inaction regarding the breach “a failure that repeats itself every single night,” endangering the safety of Jerusalem residents.

“I came to the area to see firsthand how the issue of illegal infiltrators is being handled,” he added. “I was shocked to discover the magnitude of the failure.”

He said he would “immediately convene an urgent meeting” of his subcommittee “to ensure these failures are addressed and that responsibility moves from declarations to action on the ground.”

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Religious Zionism Party member was summoned for questioning under warning by police for his alleged part in illegally entering the Sde Teiman army base 15 months ago.

Sukkot, along with several fellow right-wing parliamentarians and other protesters, came to the base after military police raided the compound to arrest nine soldiers on suspicion abusing Palestinians imprisoned there.

A few thousand terror suspects who were arrested in and around Gaza during and after the Hamas-led invasion and massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, were being held in the base-turned-detention camp until investigations could determine whether to release them or press criminal charges, in which case they were transferred to regular prisons.

The right-wing protesters blocked the exit and also forced their way in, clashing with police while demanding that the soldiers be released.

“This treatment of our fighters who leave everything and go out to fight for us at Sde Teiman must stop now,” Sukkot said at the time.

The MK is scheduled to be questioned on Nov. 11.

InfiltratorsJerusalemMK Zvi SukkotPalestinian prisoners