The neighborhood resident who spoke with Jewish Press.com had praise for the Border Police officers who did manage to run patrols in the neighborhood – and scorn for the government who apparently ties their hands.
“During the war, after the three Israeli teens were killed and the Arab teen was killed, we had pandemonium outside at certain hours of the day in our neighborhood. Border Police were stationed outside our building to keep the Jews safe.
“They would do nothing, basically, in response to the craziest attacks by Arabs – they were forced essentially to absorb the rocks. They literally had orders not to respond.
“Without exception, when we asked, each of them expressed frustration at having their hands tied by the ‘upper echelon’ which did not allow them to respond to violent attacks, unless it was absolutely life threatening.
“They are, however, allowed to stand between an attacker and a potential victim,” the resident noted with some irony. “I give them credit because without them we could not live here, just a ‘stone’s throw away,’ as it were, from the Kotel. We could not defend ourselves from these attacks, if they were not here.”
So it seems that at least when tasked with defending Jews on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, Israel Police and certainly the Border Police are forced to be human shields, rather than allowed to be military deterrents.