Inside Abbas' Campaign of Incitement against Israel

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Secretary of State John Kerry says he's heading to the region to try to mitigate a wave of Palestinian terror and Israeli counter measures that are troubling the area.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is ramping up incitement against the Jewish state.

Israel says decades of incitement against Jews and Israel is behind rage that is fueling the current wave of Palestinian terrorism.

Security in Jerusalem is extremely tight. The government deployed more Border Police to block the entrance to Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods, like Jabel Mukaber, where a number of attackers came from.

The Israeli people want peace with the Palestinians but the continued violence is being fueled by Palestinian leaders. Ron Lauder, with the World Jewish Congress, talks to CBN's Pat Robertson. Watch the full interview on Friday's The 700 Club.

"We hear again and again the slogan itbach el Yehud – kill the Jews, knife the Jews, death to the Jews in the name of Allah, in the name of defending Islam, or the name of defending the Al-Aqsa mosque," National Infrastructure Minister Yuval Steinitz and a member of the Security Cabinet told journalists in Jerusalem.

In a televised speech Wednesday, Abbas accused Israel of increasing what he called its "aggressive offensive" against Palestinians and holy sites.

But Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold refuted that charge.

"What sends young people out with butcher knives to attack Israelis?" Gold asked. "This phenomenon emanates from incitement and particularly religious incitement about the false accusation that Israel seeks to change the status quo on the Temple Mount."

Israel was hoping that Abbas would use his speech to calm the situation, but instead he did not condemn the current wave of terror nor call for a halt to attacks.

Instead, Abbas charged Israel with what he called "field executions" and said two teens who carried out a stabbing attack on an Israeli teenager earlier this week were martyrs.

The teens' parents said they went to buy candy. But security camera footage clearly shows the boys brandishing knives.

One of the teens was killed as he tried to attack a policeman, but the other is alive and receiving treatment at an Israeli hospital. Yet Abbas said he was dead.

Gold pointed out that Abbas has been stoking the fire.

"No less than Mahmoud Abbas made the famous comment on September 16 of this year: 'We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem. They [Israelis] have no right to desecrate the al-Aksa mosque with their filthy feet?' What is this?" Gold quoted Abbas.

Social media is also helping spread incitement and lies to the younger generation, like a Hamas video posted recently that shows how to stab a Jew.

On Wednesday, a Palestinian tried to stab a police officer at the Damascus Gate of the Old City. A television crew caught his attempted escape on film as he was shot and killed by security forces.

A short time later, another terrorist stabbed a woman in her 70s at Jerusalem's central bus station. She managed to board the bus and he was shot and killed.

Israelis are bracing themselves for Friday when Palestinians have called for a Day of Rage. For now, the terror shows no sign of abating.