France has submitted a draft of a presidential statement at the UN Security Council that calls for the deployment of international observers to Jerusalem’s holy sites, notably the Temple Mount, to ensure the status quo is maintained, daily Le Figaro newspaper reported citing French diplomats.

The paper said the 15-member Council was set to vote on the statement, which, if adopted, could be endorsed by the presidency of the UN body, a post currently held by Spain.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the French initiative, saying: ‘’Those who brought in explosive devices and threw fireworks were Palestinians who turned the Temple Mount into a terror warehouse.” “Israel is upholding the status quo at the site and is committed to that.”

The council met Friday in an emergency session to discuss the ongoing violence in Jerusalem and across the West Bank surrounding tensions at the Temple Mount. “Let me be crystal clear — Israel will not agree to any international presence on the Temple Mount. Such a presence would be a change in the status quo,” Israel’s Deputy Ambassador David Roet told the UN Security Council.

Ahead of the meeting, Israel’s new UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, said the Security Council did not need another general discussion about the situation but rather a meeting on the “wild incitement” by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, which, he said, was encouraging a wave of terror attacks against Israelis.

“Israelis are being stabbed, bombed, run over and stoned, yet this council remains silent,” he added.

The ambassador presented a Palestinian poster that describes the most efficient way to stab Jews and said the Palestinian leadership had “established an incubator to raise children as terrorists.

“Instead of educating about peace and tolerance, the Palestinian leadership is brainwashing children with incitement and hate,” he said.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan also criticized the proposal, saying Saturday night that such a move would only reward Palestinian terrorism.

“The French proposal to place international observers on the Temple Mount is distorted and biased,” said Erdan, in language that echoed the comments by Netanyahu. “We are currently working with the US to thwart it.”

“Factually, those who turned the Temple Mount into a terror warehouse are the Palestinians. Those who are trying to harm the status quo and prevent Jewish visits are the Palestinians. Those who are inciting and lying about the events on the Temple Mount are the Palestinians,” he said.

“Israel has been and will continue to be committed to the status quo. Those who wish to install international observers are rewarding Palestinian violence and undermining Israeli sovereignty.”

The violence began last month and has in recent weeks escalated into near-daily terror attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces. So far this month, eight Israelis have been killed and many others wounded in 31 separate stabbing attacks by Palestinians.

by Maureen Shamee