“I think it’s important that gun carriers who are skilled and have experience carry their weapons with them, especially given the [current] tension”, Barkat told Israel’s Army Radio.
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An official statement issued by Mr Barkat said: “The mayor encourages licensed gun owners to carry their weapons to increase security”.
“I think that to carry a gun today with a license when one knows what he’s doing with it is an imperative and, in a way, like [military] reserve duty”, Barkat added.
In total, four Israelis have died in recent stabbings and roadside shootings, while five Palestinians, including three attackers, have been killed.
Palestinian protesters meanwhile clashed with Israeli forces in a number of locations in the West Bank.
Hours earlier, a Jewish seminary student was wounded in a Palestinian knife attack on a main road in Jerusalem.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said three other people were also slightly hurt. To own a gun in Israel, you are required to be a permanent citizen or resident of the country, over the age of 27, hold a basic knowledge of Hebrew and to pass background checks, according to a report by Jewish newspaper Forward in 2013.
Additionally on Thurs., Netanyahu barred all Jewish & Arab lawmakers from visiting a sensitive holy website in Jerusalem in an effort to stop current street violence from spiraling additional, in accordance to a authorities official.
Israeli commentators have discussed the possibility that a third Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, is on its way.
Nir Barkat’s call to arms comes after several weeks of heightened tensions in which the capital was rocked by several stabbing incidents as well as violent clashes between the Israeli police and Arabs around the volatile Jerusalem compound, revered both by the Muslims and Jews alike.
The mayor of Jerusalem called on the city’s residents to carry weapons at all times on Thursday as the security situation in the city continues to deteriorate in the wake of a wave of deadly attacks in the last week.
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Also on Tuesday, Israel Police announced it would lift restrictions on the entry of access to Muslim worshippers on the Temple Mount.
