Anxious Israelis told to be on alert amid wave of attacks

JERUSALEM — Palestinian assailants carried out a series of stabbings across Israel on Wednesday, jolting an anxious country unnerved by weeks of unrest as clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators raged across the West Bank.

The violence forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off a high-profile visit to Germany and prompted him to tell the nation to be on alert for further trouble.

[...] in another sign of the tensions, Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, was seen carrying an assault rifle while visiting an Arab neighborhood.

Adnan Husseini, the top Palestinian official for Jerusalem, called Barkat’s armed appearance “a declaration of war” on Palestinian residents of the city.

The clashes erupted during the Jewish new year three weeks ago over tensions at the sacred hilltop compound in Jerusalem revered by Muslims as the spot where the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and by Jews as the site of the two Jewish biblical temples.

Under a long-standing arrangement administered by Islamic authorities, Jews are allowed to visit the site during certain hours but not pray there.