The Knesset’s Committee on the Interior had sharp criticism for local police over the deterioration of the security situation atop the Mount of Olives. PHOTO: Miri Tzachi/NRG.

Israeli lawmakers denounced security efforts at the Mount of Olives as a “total failure” after a recent tour of the iconic Jerusalem burial ground, Israel’s NRG reported on Sunday.

The report, from members of the Knesset’s Interior and Environment Committee, comes in the wake of a series of incidents where gravestones and shrines were vandalized and desecrated.

Committee Chairman MK David Amsalem blamed the local Jerusalem police department for the deterioration, saying, “If I were the District Commander I would not be sleeping at night. In this place, great people from Israel are buried, fallen IDF soldiers and great rabbis. This is the honor of the people of Israel.”

He added that he was tired of hearing that there were no funds available to increase security atop the Mount. He said he was, “ashamed as a citizen and as a Member of Knesset. We must press on this situation on the Mount until it becomes safe and open to those who wish to ascend it.”

In recent years, attacks on the Jewish graves in the cemetery have become more frequent. Almost every night, Arab youths arrive from the eastern part of Jerusalem and smash tombstones and monuments.

Additionally, family members that come to visit the graves of their loved ones are often attacked by marauding Arabs.