With a spate of stabbings deeply unnerving Israelis and riots rocking east Jerusalem and the West Bank, Netanyahu vowed to pursue those “who stand behind” the attackers.
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“We are taking strong action against the terrorists, rioters and inciters”, Netanyahu said.
In Tel Aviv, an Israeli soldier shot and killed an Arab attacker after he stabbed and wounded four Israelis with a screwdriver, including a female soldier near a busy Tel Aviv road, Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
In Jerusalem, a 16-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israeli was stabbed and wounded.
In Jerusalem Friday, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli teenager, wounding him lightly. Witnesses said they had been fired at by Israeli snipers in guard posts along the border fence, about 400 metres away from where the Palestinians were protesting.
In the third incident, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli near the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank, the military said.
In the northern town of Afula, an Israeli-Arab woman was shot and wounded by police who closed in on her as she held up a knife.
Photo: AP An Israeli border policeman fires tear gas towards Palestinian protesters during clashes at a checkpoint between Shuafat refugee camp and Jerusalem.
The Gaza Strip had been mainly calm as unrest has shaken annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank in recent days.
There is also frustration at the failure of Israeli police to track down the Jewish perpetrators suspected of an arson attack on a Palestinian family in the West Bank two months ago in which a child and his parents were killed.
At least 160 Palestinians were also hurt by Israeli gunfire, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
“And this is all coming from the excitement side from the Palestinian Authority and from other, unfortunately other leading Arab leaders”. There are new metal detectors in the Old City and roadblocks nearby.
The attacks were initially confined to east Jerusalem, site of the sacred Al-Aqsa mosque, and the West Bank – both territories captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 war and claimed by the Palestinians for their future state.
Israeli mayors have encouraged residents with gun licences to carry their weapons.
Israel has increased security across the country and imposed temporary restrictions on Palestinians seeking to enter the Old City of Jerusalem.
Following the clarification, Arab-Israeli lawmaker Jamal Zahalka attempted to visit the site and was prevented from entering.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to try to ease tensions on Wednesday night, declaring that no Jewish members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) would be allowed to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Netanyahu has said repeatedly he is committed to the status quo.
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Rami Saleh, director of the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights, told Anadolu Agency that the apartheid-like decision could draw a strong backlash from Palestinians.
