home to syria and teaching arab. arwa damon, cnn, turkey. >> those little faces. for ways to help, please visit cnn.com/impact. that's it for us. stay warm out there. ashleigh banfield is next. hello, everyone. welcome. i'm ashleigh banfield. this is "legal view." we're going to begin this hour with new fallout from a deadly attack on americans in jerusalem. police here in new york are now stepping up security at synagogues and, quote, other key locations in light of this morning's brazen attack of butchery thousands of miles away. three american-born rabbis and a british-born rabbi were killed when two palestinian cousins who were armed with meat cleavers, knives and a handgun burst into

a jerusalem sin gone in the middle of morning prayers. several other people were also hurt before the police eventually shot those two attackers dead. before i show you some of the video from inside that synagogue, you should know that it is graphic and it is not for children. if you don't want to see it, please look away for the next few seconds, but it is evidence of just how brutal this attack really was. since americans were killed, the fbi is now joining the investigation which began with israeli police making several arrests in the attackers' east jerusalem neighborhood. for his part, the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is vowing to respond with, quote, a heavy hand. he's expected to make a statement live in front of the cameras at the bottom of the hour. we'll be bringing you that news conference as soon as it gets under way. in the meantime, i want to bring in my cnn colleagues, ben wedeman, deborah feyerick and joe johns. ben, first to you.

this heavy-handed remark, are we getting any more indication on exactly what that is going to mean? >> reporter: we know that the prime minister will be speaking within the next half hour. but we've already seen a statement from the prime minister's office indicating that israel will demolish the homes of these two palestinian cousins in their 20s from the east jerusalem neighborhood. that seems to be one of the measures they're going to be taking to try to deter possible attackers in the future. this is a tactic the israelis have used in the past. in fact, it goes back to the days of the british mandate before the state of israel was created. so that's one of the steps. but it's important to keep in mind that these attackers didn't come from the west bank, they didn't come from gaza. nobody is making any direct link between them and, for instance, hamas. and, of course, east jerusalem is completely under israeli control.

so there's only so much the israeli authorities can do in retaliation for this brutal attack that took place this morning. >> ben, there's already claims from relatives of these assailants that, i think, somewhere along the lines of 13 different family members ranging from sisters to parents of these attackers have been arrested in that neighborhood. but at this point, is anyone being definitive about claiming responsibility and saying, we did it and this is why? >> reporter: the only group that seems to be doing it -- for instance, hamas has not claimed responsibility. it expressed support for the attack but didn't claim responsibility. the popular front for the liberation of palestine, a marxist organization, did issue a statement that some have interpreted as being a claim of responsibility. but our understanding is that no one in the families, the extended families of these two

palestinians who were killed this morning by the israeli police after the attack has indicated that they had any sort of political affiliation. that seems to be another problem here is that many of these attacks which have been taking place within the last few weeks in and around jerusalem are being done by people with no clear political affiliation, which makes it much harder, for instance, for israeli intelligence services which are keeping a very close eye on palestinian residents of jerusalem and the west bank to really be able to trace any of their activities. so it's quite a challenge for them to try to trace, follow, prevent any of these attacks. >> i want to bring in deb feyerick. deb, is there any suggestion that there is a specific need to beef up the security at synagogues and other places around new york city? >> as you can imagine, the nypd along with police departments all across the country are looking at these attacks very

closely because of their simplicity. this was a breach into a synagogue. synagogue is considered high-value targets. while there's no known or specific threat, what they are concerned about is this copycat aspect. remember, new york was the target of a hatchet attack just a month ago. so initially it was a question as to whether that was terrorism. it was ultimately ruled that it was terrorism. but they are very concerned. while there's no specific threat, they are beefing up security as a standard operating procedure because they want to make sure they tighten the perimeter around not only synagogues but also symbolically high-value targets as well. >> what are the other symbolically high-value targets? >> anywhere where a terrorist could gain access and create a good deal of propaganda and publicity for this kind of an attack. >> times square? >> times square. a tourist area, brooklyn bridge, anywhere where you have high volumes of people where they can make that statement that they are here and living amongst you.

>> joe johns at the white house, i know the president has made some comments. what more are we hearing from the administration about this? >> reporter: as you might expect, the president condemned these attacks and called them horrific saying there could be no justification. we saw the president very briefly at the beginning of a meeting with his team to deal with the ebola crisis. this is part of what he had to say. >> we know that two attackers senselessly and brutally attacked innocent worshippers in a synagogue during their morning prayers. obviously we condemn in the strongest terms these attacks. a number of people were wounded and four people were killed including three american citizens. so this has affected both nations, israel as well as the united states. and our hearts go out to the families who obviously are undergoing enormous grief right now.

secretary kerry has spoken to prime minister netanyahu. tragically, this is not the first loss of life that we have seen in recent months. too many israelis have died, too many palestinians have died. at this difficult time, i think it's important for both palestinians and israelis to try to work together to lower tensio tensions. >> reporter: also pointing out at the end of that brief statement to reporters that there is a great importance of isolating extremists and underscoring what he said at the end, the majority of israelis and palestinians want peace. >> joe johns live at the white house, thank you for that. deb feyerick as well in new york and ben wedeman. thank you to all three of you. we are expecting to hear from the israeli prime minister i am not sure, benjamin netanyahu will take to the mikes at 12:30 eastern time. we'll bring it to you as soon as he begins to speak.

also coming up, we'll talk more about this horrific attack, we'll take you to israel and speak with a spokesman from the government, exactly what it means when they say a heavy-handed response is in the offings. when and how. that's after this break. can't wait to get the next big thing? come to t-mobile and get the samsung galaxy note 4 for zero down. grab the hottest phone around, for zero down and zero waiting and zero annual service contracts only at t-mobile. stuck in a contract? we'll even buy you out of it. so why wait? switch now and get the samsung galaxy note 4 for zero down. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan.

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our top story this hour, a horrific terror attack on a jerusalem synagogue that killed three rabbis from the united states and one from britain

during morning prayers. president obama has already come out and condemned that attack. and in just a few minutes, the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is also scheduled to make a public statement. that's scheduled for 12:30 eastern time. cnn will bring it live to you exactly when it happens. i'm joined now by israeli government spokesperson who joins us from jerusalem. thank you so much for being with me. the comments we have already heard in advance of the prime minister's public address is that there will be a heavy-handed response to this terror attack. can you give me some more clarity on what that means on top and above the arrests of family members of these attackers and razing of their homes? >> well, we are beefing up the police presence in jerusalem. we are beefing up the security presence in the capital. the goal is to make sure that there aren't copycat attacks. sometimes when you get these sort of deadly terrorist

attacks, there are other extremists out there who, for want of a better word, use it as inspiration. we want to deter any such attack. that's important. we'll also be taking other steps. but ultimately what we're facing is a formidable foe. these islamist extremists who use butcher knives to kill, not unlike isis in iraq and syria who use the same weapon of choice when they execute innocent civilians. the truth is, hamas, who's praised this attack, shares a lot of the playbook with isis. they're two extremist organizations who believe in this sort of radical islamist fanatical ideology and they are the enemies of the united states and israel. >> when you sigh there would be beefed-up police presence, here in america, we'll see more police on the streets. but we don't see the kinds of things we saw this summer with the bombing campaign in gaza.

are we to expect that there will be a redux, something akin to what we saw this summer where roughly 2,000 palestinians were killed alongside 67 or so israelis? is that what's coming? >> no. we will protect ourselves against these terrorists. i think we're talking about fundamentally acting to protect the threat that there is in jerusalem. we're not interested in escalation on the country. we want to calm things down as quickly as possible so people in jerusalem, all people in jerusalem, people of all communities can enjoy peace and quiet again. that's the problem. >> i'm hearing mixed messages. i'm so sorry. we're going to have a heavy-handed reaction to this and we're going to try to calm things down. those are not synergistic with one another, those comments? >> no, on the contrary. we're going to be tough with the terrorists, with the people who do these attacks and we have a police presence to make sure that things remain quiet in jerusalem and that people are

protected, that there is safety. there's no contradiction. in order to achieve these -- to ensure calm, you've got to act forcibly against the extremists. ultimately that i think is what the u.s. government would do to protect its people if faced by a similar terror threat. >> so if i'm understanding you, mr. regev, perhaps a more targeted approach to those responsibility. but two men who have been identified, do we know who paid them, do we know who organized them or who the head of the snake is? is that where you're headed or conversely, are you more concerned that there are more lone wolves out there who will be doing these kinds of things without the awe auspices of the head of a snake? >> i think the truth is a bit of both. we are concerned about organized terror attacks by extremists. this isn't just happening in israel and jerusalem. it's happening across the middle

east. we see islamic extremism committing terrible atrocities all over the area. it's a regional problem that all moderates, all people in the free world, israelis and americans, we have to unite in combatting this threat. at the same time, there's the issue of incitement where you have islamists and unfortunately also the mainstream palestinian leadership encouraging a culture of violence and confrontation with the most outrageous radical rhetoric which only encourages this sort of lone wolf. and it's crucial, i think, that the international community say to the palestinian leadership, if you say that you're a partner in peace, if you say you're responsible leadership, you have to totally disassociate yourself from this sort of extremism. president abbas has a political pact with hamas, the same organization that praised today's brutal murders, the massacre in the synagogue. he can't say he wants peace and

still be in a pact with these extremists. >> to that end, president abbas came out quickly with a condemnati condemnation. it is stark and very black and white. it says, we condemn the killing of civilians from any side, we condemn the killing of worshippers at the synagogue in israel and condemn acts of violence, no matter their source. i want to add onto that what president obama said earlier today, at this sensitive moment, it is all the more important for israeli and palestinian leaders and ordinary citizens to work cooperatively together to lower tensions, reject violence and seek a path forward towards peace. what kind of reconciliation effort will we see that is perhaps parallel to whatever this heavy-handed response will be? >> israel wants peace. we want dialogue with our palestinian neighbors. we're ready for live and let live for two states for two people where a secure israel is recognized by our palestinian neighbors. we want all that.

but it has to be understood that the same extremists who did today's attack in jerusalem, like the extremists of isis who cut off the heads of americans, they're not interested in peace and reconciliation. we cannot ignore the threat that they pose. and i want to be very clear. these people are the enemies not just of israel and america. these people are the enemies of everyone who wants to see peace and reconciliation. it's crucial if we want to see peace, we want to see reconciliation, first we defeat the extremists and part of that is for moderate palestinians to finally step up to the plate and disassociate themselves from these extremists. it's crucial. >> how are people in israel reacting? i know it's only been a short time to take in the devastation of the nature of this attack. how are people reacting? how do people feel about this? >> i think people have been horrified.

these rabbis who were doing their early morning prayers, who were they hurting? why would anyone attack someone in a spiritual moment? it's really obscene. and the fact that we've seen hamas and other people rejoice in this is simply terrible. i'd also say and it needs to be said, as much as president abbas offered his condemnation after being pressed by secretary kerry to do so, his own fatah movement, the movement he's chair of, the political party that he heads, put out statements justifying and celebrating the attack. so it's time palestinian society took a good look at itself. i think all people of goodwill, people with basic human decency have to condemn what happened in jerusalem. there can be no justification.

it's not a question of relativism. it's time palestinian leadership had a look in the mirror and thought, what are we doing wrong? and it's clear, they have to change their behavior. >> mr. regev, our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our fellow citizens. it's such a tragic and awful story to see unfold. just so sad to think there doesn't seem to feel like much of an end anytime in the near future. my best to you and to those who are working on that pathway to peace. thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> i want to remind you, we are expecting to hear from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu shortly. don't know exactly what he's going to say, whether he will outline exactly what the response to this will be. but that's coming up in about nine minutes or so. quick break. back right after this.

at any moment, we're expecting to hear from the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. we're expecting him to speak of this morning's terror attack in jerusalem. that city's deadliest attack in more than six years. four rabbis were killed while they and several other people were praying at a synagogue. three of the dead were american immigrants. the fourth was born in britain. the attackers were two palestinian cousins who were shot dead by the police. joining me here in new york this hour is author, attorney and scholar alan dershowitz. i'm sure you've been listening intently to a lot of the details, what our viewers might not know about you is you have a personal connection to what happened. you were quite close to the father of one of the victims

this morning. >> he was my colleague, professor torski at harvard for many years. and the victim's mother was the teacher of my children and the victim's grandfather was one of the greatest rabbis in modern jewish history. the man who was killed today was a man of peace, a scholar, somebody who was not really involved in politics. he just loved learning. he was essentially targeted for beheading -- that's what they did. they came in with axes trying to simulate who isis has been doing. >> we don't have confirmation on that detail at cnn. we don't know that that specifically -- we know the scene afterwards was absolutely brutal. >> yeah. >> and awful. but we don't know specifically that. is there something about this attack, specifically because there were americans involved, specifically because these were men of peace at prayer in a synagogue, a holy place, that will be any kind of turning point in what seems to be a battle with so many turning

points? >> yes, it could be. it turns what has been a political conflict into a religious conflict. and it's much harder to resolve religious conflicts. religious people tend to think in terms of extremes. hamas is a religious organization whose goal is the destruction of the nation state of the jewish people. it's hard to compromise that. this is a religious attack on a religious institution -- >> how do you separate the two? it's been muslims against jews almost. >> but israel is a secular state. its military actions will have been based on military and political considerations. i never attacks mosques or religious places -- >> secular state by name but not by creation. >> no, it is. in fact, all the founders of israel were atheists. they were not religious people. they wanted to keep the rabbis -- >> even those who lead it call it the jewish state -- >> it's an ethnic identity. not necessarily a religious

identity. and israel is a more secular state than the united states. >> do you see something changing -- you wrote the book "terror tunnels." we've watched the battles play out and seen organized attacks on discos and restaurants and public squares. we've seen the razing of houses of those attackers, the arrests of families even today, the claim is 13 family members from mothers and brothers and sisters of these two attackers have been taken off, their homes have been flattened -- >> not yet, but they're planned. >> it feels like there's no end. and now we're starting to see potentially this could be more lone wolf than organizational. >> it's never lone wolf in the sense you read the statements by abbas and hamas and you see there are incitements there -- abbas wrote a letter consolation to the man who previously murdered an israeli in a similar area and he wrote a letter to the family and they named parks

after their terrorists and murderers. israel always condemns individuals who make attacks on individual palestinians. there's no moral equation or symmetry there. >> and ultimately when you're looking -- i think americans can identify with this having been involved in a war on terror for 13 years. it is still a war. it is not just crimes. there's a philosophical war going on and soldiers come in all forms. when you have mandatory conscription, it's war against everyone because -- >> that's racism and bigotry to say that everyone's a soldier. >> but everybody is. >> no. they're not soldiers at the time. you can't kill a 2-year-old child claiming he's going to be a soldier because israel could say, we can kill a 2-year-old palestinian because he'll grow up and be a terrorist. you have to have rules of warfare. and they forbid the deliberate killing of civilians. >> we're still waiting on the

prime minister. you know well he's due any minute, within about a minute and a half to address this publicly. the microphones are at the ready. you can just manage the many journalists awaiting this. at this point, do you expect, mark regev wasn't going to say we'll see a repeat of what we saw in the west bank. but do you think we'll see something along those lines -- >> not at all. i think the prime minister will put the blame squarely where it belongs, on palestinian leaders who incite this kind of violence. he's going to say, he will hold responsible palestinian leaders, whether from hamas or from the palestinian authority. and he's right to do that. how you hold him responsible is very different. right now, you need to have a meeting between the king of jordan, abbas and netanyahu, to de-escalate and not make religious the conflict and de-escalate what's going on on

the mountaintop. >> do you support what president obama said this morning urging cooperation between leaders -- >> yes. >> as opposed to zeroing in and targeting leaders for what they've said, letters they've written, things they've said in the past? >> you have to do a little of both. you seek peace as if there's no terrorism and fight terrorism as if there's no peace process. you can't let terrorism go unanswered. on the other hand, you can't allow terrorists to ruin the possibility of some cooperative efforts. >> been a couple of decades since rabin said those things. we are no different. >> but, remember, people forget that in 2001, israel offered the palestinians a state. they rejected it. 2007 and 2008 they offered them a state and they rejected. the blame is squarely on the palestinian leadership for failing to accept two-state solutions offered to them since 1938. >> there's definitely another side of that argument. we don't want to miss the israeli prime minister and his

live news conference. quick break. back live within moments with the israeli prime minister's response to the terror attack in jerusalem this morning.

we're back on "legal view." thanks so much for being with us. we've been covering this terror attack in jerusalem this morning. four rabbis killed in a synagogue where they prayed. three of them, american citizens. one of them, british-born. and the aftermath, a horrific scene. the weapons of choice of the killers, knives, hatchets and a gun that wasn't used. you can imagine just the terror that that has instilled in so many people who are in israel. this was in jerusalem this morning and the israeli prime minister has already responded and he will take to the air waves in minutes with a more formal press conference. in the meantime, pictures from jerusalem. you see the police presence. one of the government spokespersons on this show

moments ago say there will be a stepped-up police presence understandably throughout that country. what that will mean otherwise, though, in terms of the reaction and how the israeli government responds to this attack is yet to be known or seen. but you can see those who have turned out. we're expecting the funerals for those four to happen within the next 24 to 48 hours. in the meantime, the response so far has been that the two attackers were shot dead by the police where they were at that scene. and arrests are reportedly under way of their families and the plan is to demolish their homes and the homes where their families live as well. i want to welcome our american viewers and our viewers from around the world as we continue to cover this very tragic story of this terror attack. also, just a reminder to you, this happened this morning. we're expecting in just a few moments that the israeli prime minister will have some public comments about this terror attack in which four rabbis were

murdered with meat cleaver-wielding assassins. they brought knives, they brought a gun that wasn't used. they brought machetes. and the murder scene was horrify and graphic. we've been showing some of the pictures. but if there are children who are near the television. we strongly urge you to perhaps shield them from this coverage. it's important to see the violent nature in which these attacks were carried out. important to make sure that children aren't exposed to it as well. you see some of the pictures coming in to us from israel, some of the comments as well, the destruction that has been wrought upon the souls of so many, upon men of peace. they were at prayer when the attackers burst in and slaughtered them. the response, though, so far, we don't know other than what the prime minister has said, that there will be a heavy-handed response. he's not clarified what it means. a government spokesperson did

say it will mean an increased police presence, that they will go after those who did this. here is the tweet from the prime minister of israel, we will respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of jews who came to pray and were met by reprehensible murderers. for his part, the american president, president obama, had a response to this as well. let's have a look. >> we know that two attackers sense cecily and brutally attacked innocent worshippers in a synagogue during their morning prayers. obviously we condemn in the strongest terms these attacks. a number of people were wounded and four people were killed including three american citizens. so this affects both nations, israel as well as the united states, our hearts go out to the families who obviously are undergoing enormous grief right now. secretary kerry has spoken to prime minister netanyahu. president abbas has strongly

condemned the attacks. tragically, this is not the first loss of life that we have seen in recent months. too many israelis have died. too many palestinians have died. and at this difficult time, i think it's important for both palestinians and israelis to try to work together to lower tensions and to reject violence. >> i want to bring some of the pictures forward of at least two of the victims that cnn has been able to gather. two of the victims, one of them -- let me change that. a reminder, if you're joining us that the prime minister of israel is about to speak at any moment. again, the situation just unfolding as far as what the reaction of the israeli government will be to this. i want to bring in ben wedeman who's live on the scene for us

with a little bit more detail and color as to what has unfolded since these attacks happened. ben? >> reporter: we were in the area where this attack took place just before 7:00. and we were waiting -- we were watching, for instance, as they were watching -- there were workers washing blood off the pavement. the bodies were still inside the synagogue. there were large crowds of people waiting outside, some of them chanting "death to the terrorists." this attack took place just before 7:00 in the morning while around a dozen men were inside the synagogue for morning prayers when these two palestinians burst in. they were armed, according to the israeli police, with knives, axes. we saw pictures of what appeared to be meat cleavers. they also had a 9 millimeter pistol. these are two men in their 20s, cousins from the east jerusalem neighborhood of jebalil.

we understand the -- we saw a statement from the prime minister's office saying that israel will demolish the homes of these two palestinians in east jerusalem, where i understand there are clashes ongoing at this moment. and in addition to that, the israelis are going to be hiking up security around jerusalem but particularly focusing on those neighborhoods of east jerusalem which have been the scene of clashes. there were clashes yesterday, more clashes today and really going back essentially till june, there has been a high level of tension in the city. ashleigh? >> exactly what do things look like on the street? when mark regev suggested that the response will be seriously increased presence of police and forces, are you seeing that? >> reporter: well, we are in

west jerusalem where there doesn't seem to be a dramatically increased security presence. but we understand that the israeli security forces have for instance placed concrete blocks in some palestinian neighborhoods to block cars from coming and going and that we are also hearing that tomorrow some of those neighborhoods will have checkpoints outside of them. so the focus isn't so much in this part of jerusalem. but it's in the east where about 30% of the population, palestinians live in the city. and it's important to keep in mind that east jerusalem is an area which under normal conditions, under normal circumstances, the residents can come to the west and vice versa, as opposed to the west bank where there's a wall, where there are checkpoints. so it's something of a problem for the city to impose a partial blockade on the eastern part of the city because so many

palestinians work in the western side as well. >> ben, if you can stand by for a moment. i'm going to ask you a question and after the break, i'd like you to answer it for me. there were three american rabbis in that slaughter and one british-born rabbi. i think a lot of people are wondering if that was specific, if it was planned or if it was happenstance that they happened to have the citizenship that they did. i'm going to squeeze in a quick break as we wait for the israeli prime minister to take to the live mikes and give his response as well. ben wedeman will be with us live after the break.

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i want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world as we continue our coverage of the this terrible attack in jerusalem. four rabbis murdered as they prayed. three of them american, one of them british-born. two knife-wielding terrorists breaking into a synagogue while those men prayed and effectively butchering them to death. before police were able to respond and kill those two attackers in their place. there were several other injuries as well, including one of the police who was responding. at this point, amid a bloody aftermath and a horrific scene in that synagogue, the government is responding. they're saying there will be a heavy-handed response to this and the prime minister himself, benjamin netanyahu, was expected to be behind the microphone about 14 minutes ago. we're still awaiting that live news conference. in the meantime, i want to show you some pictures that have just

come in to cnn. these are pictures of palestinians who are celebrating this attack in the streets. you can see knife and hatchet-wielding men. you can also see women throwing pieces of candy, somewhat reminiscent of 9/11 when they threw candy in the streets serving sweets to people who are passing by, the celebration of the four rabbis who were murdered this morning inside their synagogue. these will not be pictures that go over well in many parts of the world, in other parts of the world, perhaps some sympathy for these kinds of celebrations. but nonetheless this could be one of those turning points in this ongoing battle between these parties in the middle east. i want to bring in our ben wedeman who is live in jerusalem. ben, before the break i asked you that question, three american rabbis, one british-born rabbi, any accident that they were that citizenship? >> reporter: israeli police are not suggesting that that may

have been one of the reasons behind this attack. we understand that one of the attackers apparently did work in a store in that area. so he's probably familiar with some of the people who live in the neighborhood with the rhythms of the neighborhood. but there's no indication at this point that they were the targets because of their dual nationalities, important to keep in mind that all four of them also had israeli nationality. as far as any sort of possible affiliation of the attackers, there's been a statement from the popular front for the liberation of palestinian, the pflp, an old marxist secular militant palestinian organization, suggesting that these men perhaps were members of the organization. but there was not a direct claim of responsibility for this attack. but as i said, at this point, the israeli police are not making any connection between

the dual nationalities of the four rabbis who were murdered this morning and the attack. >> ben, what of the response so far just with regard to the killers? there have been reports from family members of the killers that their entire families, i think 13 some-odd people, have been arrested, from sisters to brothers to parents and that if it hasn't already happened, there is a plan to demolish the homes, the family homes of those killers. do you know anything more about that? >> reporter: that is correct. we saw a statement from the prime minister's office saying those homes would be demolished and we understand that some relatives have been brought in. probably for questioning more than anything else, not necessarily charged with any link to the attack. but this is not unusual in these instances. the israeli security forces have a lot of experience with this sort of thing. so they are probably trying to

get as much information out of relatives as possible, not necessarily charging them for a link with the crime. >> ben, if you could stand by for just one moment. i also want to include in this conversation, alan dershowitz. i think you saw at the very moment i saw for the first time, some of the pictures we were airing of the celebrations in the streets. one of the more distasteful ones, perhaps, two men wielding a hatchet and a knife. i suppose not a surprise. we have seen these kinds of celebrations of terror attacks in the past. >> that's the big difference between israel and israel's enemies. when an israeli attacks somebody, they're condemned universally. they're immediately arrested. but when palestinians kill israelis at prayer, they name parks after them, talking about the palestinian authority, now. they make them into heroes. they put up posters of them.

the president of the palestinian authority sends letters of condolence to the family. yes, he condemns the attack out of one side of his mouth. out of the other side of his mouth, he incentivizes and incites the attacks. there's no moral equivalence between israel and the palestinian authority or hamas when it comes to toleration of terrorism. one group encourages, the other group discourages it. and that's proved by these pictures. >> some of these pictures being held up, presumably by family or friends or some sort of representative of those two attackers this morning. i've been there a lot, enough to know about the pictures that you talk about. there are shrines, there are billboards with all of those who have carried out attacks in the past. they are celebrated for eternity, it seems. i almost expect within hours there will be these posters of these two men's faces up as well in central places. >> yes. that's not only hamas. by the way, this is not the group that claimed credit.

the group that claimed credit was secular. they wouldn't have picked a synagogue. if there was any group behind it, it was more of a religiously inspired group. >> one last question to ben wedeman before i let you go, ben. the other side of the coin, alan dershowitz just said, this doesn't happen amongst israelis. there's no celebration. in fact, we're going to go live to benjamin netanyahu. >> translator: we're in the midst of a terror attack that is concentrated on jerusalem. today in the middle of the morning prayers, while covered in prayer shawls, four rabbis were massacred, four jews, innocent jews, pure jews.

we send our condolences to the families and a speedy recovery to all the injured among whom are brave policemen who prevented through their actions even bigger catastrophe. those human animals that committed this massacre came with great hatred and incitement. the deep hatred and incitement against the jewish people and its state. the hamas, the islamic movement and the palestinian authority disseminate libels against the state of israel.

they say that the jews impurify the temple. they say that our intention is to demolish those sacred places that we intend to change the prayer services. these are all lies. and these lies have already taken their toll, they've taken a price. they took the life of a 3-month-old baby. a little baby who was going from the western world with her parents, they wanted to thank god that god gave her to them and they took her life. the police officer, the youngst

youngster, all pure souls, all victims of this awful incitement. and today they were joined by more victims as a result of this blood libel, yes, blood libel of the type of those blood libels that are engraved in our memories. yesterday, a bus driver from east jerusalem committed suicide. he committed suicide and even the reports through the pathologist that were publicly published prove this, he committed suicide. but it did not prevent from those inciting forces to disseminate their blood libel as if he was murdered by jews. and this incitement contributed to the awful murder that took place this morning, the sacred place in a time of prayer. but what is most shocking is that it's not just the cruelty of the massacre but also those

characterize of glee and joy in gaza, in bethlehem and in other places where candy was handed out, where fireworks were set off, where praises were heard to the shahides. i remember abbas condemned the attack. but it is not enough. later on, the continuation of that sentence after he condemned the murder today, he connected it to all sorts of imaginary events that ostensibly israel performed in temple mount which did not take place. there's daily incitement every single hour and they turn those murderers into heroes, into cultural heroes. but there is ongoing incitement against the very existence of the state of israel, against the security of the citizens of

israel, constantly through the schools, in the media, in the mosques. and this is the root of the conflict. this refusal to recognize and to educate the new generation to the existence of the state of israel. last week, i flew to jordan and held a very important meeting there in amman with the king of jordan abdullah and with john kerry, secretary of state. and together we called to calm spirs do spirits down. unfortunately the answer we got from the palestinian authority was a different proclamation. and today, we all saw the result. the world looks upon this massacre, but unfortunately it does not demand the palestinians to stop this awful incitement against israel which is the very root of the conflict. i call to all the leaders of the cultural world, the civilized

wor world, i would like to see shock. i would like to see a condemnation, a real uprooting, noncompromising of these deeds of these murders of israelis, the murders of jews. do not discriminate between blood and blood when there are other deeds of murder, you do reflect that shock. you condemn. but when i see a little baby, 3 months old, murdered, when i see these jews praying, praying covered from prayer shawls in a synagogue, a sacred place to others like a church or a mosque, is sacred to its people, i expect to hear at least that very same condemnation, uncompromising and with no reservation.

and to award the palestinians with a prize? again with one-sided proclamation of the palestinian state that does not even recognize the jewish state. we cannot tolerate such a reality and that is why we will beat terrorism, we will uphold law and order and security in all the streets of jerusalem. i decided this evening to demolish the homes of the terrorists who committed this massacre and to accelerate the demolishment of the homes of previous terrorists and to enforce law to make punishment more severe and to outlaw all sorts of organizations. and i also gave the orders to increase security in jerusalem, yes, there are defense deeds as well, defense activities that we do.

the citizens of israel, i call upon you to please be aware, be alert, please abide by the law. we will pay all these terrorists and those who sent them -- we have proven to be able to do so. but nobody, nobody must take the law into his or her hands, even when times are stormy, even when the blood boils, we are in the middle of an ongoing and long war of terrorism that did not begin today. terrorism has escorted us throughout the years. we always were victorious. we will beat it. we will do so this time. there are those who wish to uproot us from our capital, from our land. they will not be successful. this is our eternal capital. we have to unify forces at such a time. this is a time of need. we always need to unite in times of need.

we have to place aside all those little conflicts and to unite around this big central thing which is defending jerusalem and upkeeping the safety of the citizens of israel. this is what the citizens expect of us, to stand together as one man, united together. this is what is needed at this time. and that is national unity. >> [ inaudible ]. >> translator: there's no gap

between me and the head of the -- he was precise in his words today and his testimony before the committee and only a part of it was quoted. but what the head of the isa said is that mazen doesn't directly encourage acts of terror. and this is good. this is a good thing. on the other hand, with the incitement of the palestinian authority, he hates the palestinian authority. and sometimes even things that he personally says, these do encourage terrorism in terms of incitement in people. and tensions that run high among people, that would be the right description. i repeat that now as well. >> you're hearing the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, speaking out condemning what happened in jerusalem earlier today.