The leader of one of the world’s most conflict-riven cities has questioned official UK police advice to “run, hide, tell” during terror attacks and has suggested Britons should take on jihadists to save lives.
Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, said people should “engage” the enemy directly. He also claimed that London was more dangerous than his own city after four attacks in the capital in less than six months, including Friday’s bombing at Parsons Green. “When I fly here, I pray to safely come back home to Jerusalem.”
The Israeli politician indicated that Europe had been “soft” with extremist plotters and said UK police should be routinely armed and willing to carry out more profiling of suspects.
“The phase that Europe’s going through now, we went through 15-20 years ago,” said Barkat during a trip to London last week. “We went through this phase of naiveness [sic] and wishing that things will pass. Well, they don’t.
“If you don’t take action and rethink how to engage with it in a smart way, it’s going to continue.”
Read the full article by Dipesh Gadher at The Australian (subscription only).