Arab terrorists attacked IDF soldiers in several locations around Jerusalem on Tuesday evening.

Near the Mount of Olives, an IDF patrol unit was struck by paint-filled bottles and a hail of rocks.

A glass bottle was hurled at IDF forces stationed near the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Two firebombs (Molotov cocktails) were thrown at forces in the capital as well. One of the firebombs ignited a small fire.

The IDF has released video footage of the Hamas drone which was shot down on Tuesday by an IAF fighter jet. The video was made available late in the day, hours after the incident took place.

“Hamas has been developing its drone capabilities, especially in the last two years,” Lt.Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement.

“Today’s event proves once more that Hamas continues to invest in tools of terror and not in the needs of the people of Gaza.”

Jerusalem District Police and other security personnel gathered at various areas around the Western Wall around midnight Monday night, sealing off all entrances to the plaza where pious Jews are known to pray at all hours of the day and night.

The move came in advance of the upcoming Jewish high holy days, and as part of the national security defense drill that officially starts throughout the country on Tuesday. It’s just easier to carry out security drills at midnight at the Western Wall — and thereby avoid worldwide panic — because that’s when almost no one else is around. At least, that’s when the tourists aren’t around. And Israelis are used to security drills.

“All the entrances and exits in and out of the Kotel (Western Wall) Plaza have been closed off,  hermetically sealed,” complained one resident of the Old City who asked on an internet chat if anyone else knew what was going on.  “Some kind of operation is underway,” another answered.  A second writer said a security exercise was taking place at the Western Wall and surrounds. Within a very few minutes, however, it was all over and the human traffic was flowing freely through the ancient alleyways once more.

On Tuesday, Israel’s Home Front Command begins a national security exercise for the entire country. Red Alert air raid sirens will activate at various times throughout the country, depending on where in Israel the reader lives.  Each community will  have two opportunities to “practice” making a beeline for one’s safe space or bomb shelter, once in the morning and once in the evening.

The IDF urges each citizen to participate in the exercise and take the opportunity to become familiar with the routine of accessing your safe space and the issues involved in getting there, and staying there.

Readers are advised to check the Home Front Command website to determine what time your Red Alert activation is set to begin. To find out more about the exercise, and to access the Home Front Command site, click here.

The US last week signed a historic 10 year Memorandum of Understanding in which Israel will receive $38 billion for defense. Did the Obama administration agree to the terms of the deal at this time in order to pressure Israel to make concessions for ‘peace,’ in an attempt to secure the president’s Middle East legacy? What does Congress think of the deal’s terms? And ultimately what will the deal mean in Israel’s overall security picture? Dan Diker Fellow and Project Director of the Program to Counter Political Warfare at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs joins Josh Hasten to answer these questions and more about the agreement.

Lior Shurka was one of the first members of the Efrat Rapid Response Team on the scene of the terror attack (“pigua”) in Efrat on Sept. 18, 2016.

In the video he tells JewishPress.com about the event.

Former Deputy Chief of Staff Gen (Res.) Uzi Dayan, who at one point was head of the IDF Central Command and is a nephew of the late Moshe Dayan, told a military court in Jaffa on Monday it should not have been involved in the case of shooting medic Sgt. Elor Azaria in the first place.

“I don’t know if the soldier sinned or not,” Gen. Dayan, a witness for the defense, stressed. “I’m concerned about the soldiers on the ground. Every such [court trial] day is causing more damage to the IDF.” He then turned to the judges and said, “It’s still not too late to reach a plea bargain, the damage to the Army is enormous.”

Gen. Dayan testified that, in his opinion, “every terrorist has a death sentence on his head, regardless of whether or not they pose a risk at the moment.”

The man who commanded the Hebron region at one point and served as National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, said there should not have been a military police investigation of the case, nor a consequent involvement of the military prosecution, and certainly no trial. He also told the court that in his entire career he never permitted the military police to investigate an operational event.

“The military police does not have the tools needed to investigate operational events,” Gen. Dayan told the panel of three military judges. “It’s a shame that instead of using the tool of an investigating committee, they rolled it straight to the criminal arena. If a warrior makes a mistake, we don’t roll it over to the criminal realm, unless an insidious motive is involved.”

When the prosecutor asked if the rules of engagement don’t forbid killing a terrorist simply because he is a terrorist, Gen. Dayan responded, “This is patently wrong. What’s relevant are the mission instructions. I ordered to kill terrorists simply because they were terrorists, regardless of whether they endangered or didn’t endanger. … Terrorists must be killed. Is it under any condition? No, that’s true. But as to the question of whether terrorists should be killed, the answer is yes.”

At the end of his testimony, Gen. Dayan told the judges, “Many eyes are trained on you. The issue is under an unprecedented public debate, which means that your decision bears an enormous significance.”

Gen. (Res.) Dan Biton, who also testified for the defense, warned the court in a written affidavit that “there was a command failure on the part of the brigade commander, battalion commander and company commander.” He added, “In my opinion the company commander was in a trauma as a result of the shooting. This case represents a fault line. A wrong decision would lead to a situation whereby every soldier would be afraid to open fire to save a life.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday held a meeting to assess the security situation ahead of the Tishrei holidays—Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Netanyahu called for in creased police presence, especially in the Old City and around the Temple Mount, directing “determined action” against any attempt to violate the public order there. In the case of Jews on the Temple Mount, these actions are normally determined by the Waqf agents, who are empowered to assess the level of spiritual engagement exerted by any Jew on the Temple Mount, and to decide whether said Jews have crossed the line and got dangerously close to their Father in Heaven.

Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Edelstein to continue to prevent MKs and cabinet ministers from going up to the Temple Mount during this sensitive period, such sensitive period being defined as “always.”

The Prime Minister also directed that activity be increased against PA Arab incitement on social networks, including Facebook, with the goal of removing inflammatory content. He also instructed that a response team be established to refute disinformation about Israeli policy on the Temple Mount, such as the Jews are plotting to destroy the Al Aqsa mosque.

Netanyahu received an update on IDF operations and the reinforcement of units along the roads and inside Judea and Samaria communities.

Also participating in the meeting were Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Israel Policy Deputy Inspector General Zohar Dvir, Jerusalem District Police Commander Yoram Halevy, the deputy Director of the ISA, an IDF representative and personnel from the National Security Council.