Abstract
This paper provides an analysis of Israel’s reactions to the events during and following Palestinian mass protests in Jerusalem. These were triggered after Israel had decided to install metal detectors at gates to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in response to the operation carried out by three young men from the 1948 territory. The paper analyses Israel’s reactions in terms of dealing with Palestinians inside the Green Line, who contributed significantly to the success of the popular protests in Jerusalem. The paper also looks into Israel’s reactions to the issue of Jerusalem and provides an assessment of the personality of the right wing’s leader and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during this crisis.

By their participation, organisation and recruitment, Palestinians in Israel played a major role in this protest. That was another blow delivered to Israel’s policies. An unprecedented incitement campaign did not prevent Palestinians in Israel from taking part in the protest. This was implicitly incomprehensible in light of the features Israelisation that ensued the tragic events across the Arab world. Over the first two years of the Arab Spring, Palestinians in Israel pinned hopes and expressed themselves in the wonderful youth protest and mobility against the Prawer Plan in Al-Naqab. In my opinion, the protest reflected the broadest actual participation of Palestinians in Israel in a struggle that erupted in the 1967 territory. Herein lies the importance of the event: the Tahrir Square of Jerusalem brought together Palestinians in Israel and Palestinian in the 1967 territory. The tools were common (a peaceful, popular protest) and the goal was clear (disrupting Israel’s plan to take another step towards control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque). Therefore, in this particular case, the triumph of Al-Aqsa Mosque protests was a double victory for Palestinians in Israel: a triumph over the intimidation policy which ensued the Al-Aqsa Mosque operation and a triumph over Israel’s policies in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.