On this date, 11 March 2011, five
members of a Jewish family, known as the Fogel Family were murdered in the
Israeli Settlement of Itamar in the West Bank. I will blog about them from
Wikipedia before giving my comments and condolences.
The Itamar attack, also called
the Itamar massacre, was an attack on a Jewish family in the Israeli
settlement of Itamar in the West Bank that took place on 11 March 2011, in
which five members of the same family were murdered in their beds. The victims
were the father Ehud (Udi) Fogel, the mother Ruth Fogel, and three of their six
children—Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, and Hadas, the youngest, a three-month-old infant.
According to David Ha'ivri, and as reported by multiple sources the infant was
decapitated. The settlement of Itamar had been the target of several murderous
attacks before these killings.
Amjad Awad and Hakim Awad, two young
Palestinian men from the village of Awarta, were arrested for the murders. On 5
June 2011 they were indicted on five counts of murder, stealing weapons,
breaking and entering, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Both were later found
guilty. They initially denied any involvement in the attack but later proudly
confessed to the killings, expressed no remorse and reenacted the attack before
security officials.
The attack was harshly condemned by
the United Nations, the Quartet on the Middle East, France, Germany, the United
Kingdom, the United States, and many other governments, as well as the
Palestinian Authority and a number of non-governmental organizations. Xinhua,
the official press agency of the People's Republic of China, stated that the
attack was praised by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades stated that “the heroic operation is a natural response to the
(Israeli) occupation crimes against our people in West Bank and Gaza Strip.” An
opinion poll indicated that 63% of Palestinians opposed and about one-third
supported the attack. One of the perpetrators of the murders was described as a
"hero" and a "legend" by members of his family, during a
weekly program.
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Map of the approximate
area of the Shomron Regional Council in the West Bank. For location maps.
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Location
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Itamar, West Bank, (Area C)
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Date
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11 March 2011
Midnight (GMT+2) |
Attack type
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Stabbing/Shooting attack
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Weapon(s)
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Knife
M-16 rifle |
Deaths
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5 (including 3 children)
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Perpetrators
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Amjad Awad
Hakim Awad |
Background
Due to an increase in security
measures by the Palestinian National Authority, operations by Palestinian
militant organizations in the West Bank had been declining. Over the previous
two years, Israel had removed a number of roadblocks and checkpoints, although
a security fence remained in place around Itamar. The attack was the first
killing of settlers since a drive-by shooting in August 2010 left four dead
near Kiryat Arba. Attacks on Israeli settlements in the West Bank had been defended
by some Palestinian militants on previous occasions, who argued that the
settlers are de facto combatants in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Itamar, with a population of 1,032
(2009), mostly ideologically motivated national-religious Israeli-Jewish
families considered among the most fervent Israeli settlers in the West Bank,
has had numerous confrontations with local Palestinians. Tensions between
Itamar and the nearby Palestinian village of Awarta had been rising before the
attack. Palestinians had accused settlers in the locality of cutting down
hundreds of olive trees, burning cars and shooting at Palestinian residents.
Ten Palestinians and one settler were injured in a confrontation in the week
before the attack, when Israeli soldiers were accused of opening fire to quell
the clash, and two Palestinian teenagers had been shot to death a year
previously as they collected garbage near Itamar.
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Itamar in 2007
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Perpetrators
The attack was carried out by Amjad
Mahmad Awad, 18, and Hakim Mazen Awad, 17. Both are from the Awad clan, which
makes up about half of Awarta's population, and are cousins. Hakim Mazen Awad
was a high school student whose father, Mazen, is active in the PFLP. Mazen had
previously been arrested by the Palestinian Authority and served a five-year
prison sentence for murdering a female cousin and cremating her body. His uncle
Jibril was also a PFLP militant who had participated in a 2002 attack against
Itamar which left four civilians dead, including three children, along with the
settlement's security officer, and was killed in a 2003 clash with Israeli
troops. Amjad Mahmad Awad was also affiliated with the PFLP. He had been employed
in Israel as a laborer, and was a student at Al-Quds Open University. The
families of the two suspects denied the two committed the massacre. Hakim
Awad's mother, Nawef, claimed that her son was at home the night of the murder
and never left the house, claiming that "five months ago Hakim underwent a
surgery in his stomach and I'm sure he was tortured and forced into
confessing," though she later proudly admitted his involvement. Amjad's
family also claimed that he was in the village at the time of the event. One
relative said that Hakim and Amjad did not know each other, as "one went
to university, the other is in high school". He also claimed that if they
had been guilty, they would have been captured within days, as "the whole
world knows about Israel's advanced investigation abilities and its use of
sophisticated means". Shin Bet, however, claimed that in spite of the time
passed between the murders and arrests, it was a major achievement.
Amjad and Hakim Awad had decided to
carry out an attack on Itamar days before. Three days before the killings, they
approached a PFLP member with a request for weapons, but were rebuffed. At
midday on Friday, 11 March, they decided that they would enter Itamar later
that night, and carry out an attack armed with knives.
Several media sources, among them the Guardian
and the Washington Post, first reported that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, the dominant political faction in the West
Bank, claimed responsibility for the attack, whereas the Jerusalem Post
reported, that the "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Imad Mughniyeh" had
claimed responsibility, a group named after a Hezbollah chief of military
operations and liaison with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who was killed by
a car bomb in Damascus in 2008. According to Al Hayat, officials of
"Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades" denied association with the Imad
Mughniyeh-group or the attack.
The Jerusalem Post reported that a number of
media outlets affiliated with the Palestinian Authority doubt Israeli claims
that the killings were committed by Palestinians and report that a Thai worker
who was employed in the settlement had been arrested on suspicion of the
killings.
Amjad and Hakim Awad were already in
custody when they were identified as the killers, and their names released to
the public on April 17. They offered a detailed account of the attack, as well
as a reenactment. Despite the ties of both suspects to the PFLP, Shin Bet
investigators did not identify the attack as being carried out under the auspices
of the PFLP, but rather as an individual act. Israeli authorities said that
they planned their attack well ahead of time, and showed no remorse for their
actions.
The attack
According to Israeli investigators,
Amjad and Hakim Awad had attempted to acquire weapons from a Popular Front
militant in Awarta. After he refused, they decided to carry out the attack
using knives. Just after 9 pm on Friday night, the two left Awarta
carrying several knives, an umbrella, and wire-cutting shears. The two tried to
cut through the settlement's security fence, but eventually climbed over it. An
initial probe showed that the fence around Itamar functioned properly. At about
the same time that they infiltrated, an alarm sounded in the settlement's
security room, indicating the exact location where they entered. But neither
the settlement's civilian security team nor the civilian security officer, who
went to the site of the disturbance and found nothing out of order, informed
soldiers patrolling the area of the fence, concluding that an animal had set
off the alarm, although procedures prescribe that the IDF is to be informed of
any alarm.
After crossing the fence, Amjad and
Hakim walked 400 meters into the settlement. The perpetrators first broke into
a house of the Chai family who were on vacation, searching all the rooms. They
stole an M-16 assault rifle, ammunition, a helmet, and a kevlar vest. They
waited an hour and entered the Fogels' house at around 10:30 pm According
to the indictment, the two entered the children's room, told eleven-year-old
Yoav, who had been awakened by their entry not to be afraid, then took him to a
nearby room, slashed his throat, and stabbed him in the chest. Hakim Awad then
strangled four-year-old Elad with Amjad Awad stabbing him twice in the chest.
The two next entered the parents' room, and turned on the light, waking them
up. The parents then struggled with the attackers. Ehud Fogel was repeatedly
stabbed in the neck, and Ruth Fogel was stabbed in the neck and back and then
shot when the suspects saw that she was not dead. The suspects then left the
house. According to the confessions of the suspects, they feared that the shots
had been heard. When they went outside, they saw a patrol vehicle, but realized
that they had not been discovered when it did nothing. The two then argued over
whether to withdraw or carry out attacks in other homes, with Hakim insisting
that they return immediately to Awarta, and Amjad arguing that they should
return to the home and steal another weapon. Amjad then re-entered the Fogel
home. When 3-month old Hadas began crying, Amjad stabbed her, fearing the cries
would attract attention. According to several accounts, the infant was
decapitated., though one source says that although her throat was deeply slit,
she was only "nearly decapitated". The attackers did not notice two
other children asleep in the house at the time. In their confessions they said
and that they would not have hesitated to kill them if they had noticed them.
The perpetrators also stole Ehud's M-16 rifle. They left the settlement without
being detected.
Amjad and Hakim Awad returned to
Awarta on foot, and appealed to Hakim's uncle, PFLP militant Salah Awad, for
assistance, and gave him a detailed description of the attack. Salah helped them
conceal their stolen weapons and burn their bloodstained clothes, and later
transferred the stolen weapons to Jad Avid, a contact in Ramallah for hiding.
The bodies were discovered by Tamar
Fogel, the 12-year-old daughter of the family who arrived home around midnight
after a youth outing. After finding that the door was locked, she asked her
neighbor, Rabbi Ya'akov Cohen, for help. He noticed tracks and mud near the
house, and brought a weapon with him. The two then woke the sleeping 6-year old
boy by calling through the window, and he opened the door, after which Cohen
returned to his home. When the girl discovered the murders, she ran outside
screaming, and the Rabbi ran back, firing several shots into the air to alert
security personnel. Rabbi Cohen, who later entered the house with the girl,
said that her two-year-old brother "was lying next to his bleeding
parents, shaking them with his hands and trying to get them to wake up, while
crying... The sight in the house was shocking." Magen David Adom paramedics
and ZAKA (Disaster Victim Identification) volunteers were called to the scene,
including ZAKA regional commander Gil Bismot. Paramedics followed a trail of
toys and blood to the bedroom, where they discovered the first three bodies:
the mother, father and infant. In the next room they found the body of the
11-year-old sibling. Finally they reached the last bedroom, where the
4-year-old boy was severely injured and dying. The toddler died of his wounds
despite the efforts of medical personnel.
In accordance with Jewish law, the
bodies remained in the home throughout Jewish Sabbath, watched over by ZAKA
volunteers. Immediately after the end of Sabbath, another team of ZAKA
volunteers arrived from Immanuel and the wider region were dispatched to Itamar.
ZAKA volunteers collected all human remains and cleaned up the scene. Dr.
Yehuda Hiss of the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv traveled to Itamar
to carry out an examination of the bodies. The procedure was supervised by the
head of the ZAKA Rabbinical Council, Rabbi Ya'akov Roget.
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Bodies wrapped in tallit at funeral in Givat
Shaul
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Victims
The victims of the attack are Ehud
"Udi" Fogel, age 36, the son of Gush Emunim activists from Neve Tzuf,
Ruth Fogel, age 35, the daughter of a Jerusalem rabbi, and three of their six
children, Yoav, age 11, Elad, age 4, and three months old Hadas.
The Fogel family had recently settled
in Itamar. They previously lived in the Gush Katif settlement of Netzarim in
the Gaza Strip. After Israel evacuated its Gaza settlements in 2005, they moved
to the settlement of Ariel, and in 2009 to Itamar, where Udi Fogel worked as
teacher at the post-high school yeshiva.
Three of the family's children, Tamar,
age 12, Roi, age 6, and Yishai, age 2 have survived physically unharmed. They
are being cared for by grandparents in the aftermath of the attack.
Twelve-year-old Tamar is quoted as having promised her relatives: "I will
be strong and succeed in overcoming this. I understand the task that stands
before me, and I will be a mother to my siblings."
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April 16, 2011
The Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, met
yesterday (April 15th) with the children of the Fogel family from Itamar whose
parents and three of their siblings were murdered in a terror attack a month
ago. Accompanied by extended family members, Tamar, Roei and Yishai arrived at
the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.The Chief of Staff asked the children about
their family and how they are coping after the tragic event. Pictured: The
Chief of Staff presents the Fogel children with a Passover Haggadah
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Funeral
The funeral of the five victims on
Sunday, 13 March at Har HaMenuchot Cemetery in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, was
attended by some 20,000 people and broadcast on Israeli television. Speakers
included former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, quoted as saying: "We will
not bend, we will not give up, we returned to the land of our fathers and it is
our home, and the children shall return within their borders and nothing will
prevent our faith in the righteousness of our path", Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi
Yona Metzger, who, linking the murderers to Amalek, stated that "Itamar
needs to become a major city in Israel as a response to this murder", and
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, whose final remarks were: "Build more, live
more, more footholds – that is our response to the murderers so that they know
– they can't defeat us".
Ruth Fogel's father was quoted as
having said: "Our children are prepared to be sacrificed as an offering at
the altar we have to continue to build to bring redemption. Udi and Ruthie
wanted this redemption."
Udi Fogel's brother Motti Fogel spoke
out against the use that has been made of the murder of the family: "All
the slogans about Torah and settlement, the Land of Israel and the people of
Israel are attempts to forget the simple and pain-torn fact: you are dead. You
are dead, and no slogan will bring you back. You are not a symbol or a national
event. Your life was a purpose in and of itself, and it should be forbidden for
your terrible death to turn your life into some sort of tool."
Following the end of the 30-day
mourning period, an emotional memorial service was held in Itamar, where the
cornerstone for a new kollel to be named after Udi Fogel was laid. Hundreds of
people attended, including Sephardi Chief Rabbi Moshe Amar, Knesset members
Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) and Uri Ariel (National Union), and Yesha Council
Chairman Danny Dayan. Many participants signed a Megillah scroll, which was
recited by former Military Rabbinate Chief and Yeshiva head Avichai Rontzki
before being placed within the foundations of the new kollel.
Manhunt
and capture
Following
the attack, soldiers from the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) and Israel Police
arrived in Itamar and conducted a search across the village of Itamar. The Israeli Air Force used UAVs
for aerial surveillance of the area. Israeli authorities declared the nearby
West Bank city of Nablus a closed military zone. Israeli troops set up
checkpoints on the roads leading to the city and prevented vehicles and
pedestrians from leaving or entering, according to Palestinians. Residential
areas were placed under curfew, and Israeli troops conducted house-to-house
searches. The previously-dismantled Huwwara Checkpoint was re-established.
An initial
probe suggested two perpetrators entered Itamar shortly after 9 pm,
jumping over the settlement's security fence, and remained in the settlement
for three hours without being noticed. Due to the characteristics of the
killings, the IDF estimated that the attack was not carried out by an organized
terrorist infrastructure but was the work of one or two people, presumably
Palestinian. Israeli authorities initially suspected that the killings may have
been in revenge for the killing of two Palestinian teenagers from Awarta, who
were shot dead near Itamar in 2010.
In Itamar,
the Fogel family home was cordoned off by red tape and guarded by soldiers. A
forensics team probed the home, collecting evidence left behind by the killers.
An IDF
tracker spotted indications that the perpetrators had scaled the fence, and
found footprints and equipment abandoned by the killers leading out of Itamar.
The tracker, accompanied by an IDF force, followed the tracks to the
Palestinian village of Awarta. IDF troops entered the town of Burqa,
northwest of Nablus, searching houses and questioning residents. They did not
make any arrests. IDF soldiers and Israel Border
Police gendarmes also entered the villages of Sanur and Zababdeh,
arresting several dozen Palestinians.
A gag order
was imposed on the investigation.
Awarta was
placed under curfew and declared a closed military zone. IDF troops and Israel
Border Police conducted mass arrests of residents throughout the following
days. According to Palestinian sources, all men from Awarta were questioned.
Residents reported constant door-to-door searches, with some homes being
searched up to three times. According to witness reports, Israeli armored
vehicles patrolled the village's streets, and troops were deployed on the
hilltops around the village. The city of Nablus remained under closure, but
four days after the murders, a food delivery was permitted into the city. On 29
March 2011, the IDF initiated a second wave of arrests in Awarta, detaining 60
Palestinians, including the Deputy Mayor of Awarta, and collecting DNA samples.
About 20 were immediately released following DNA testing, and another 40 were
interrogated. A week later, AFP reported that the IDF arrested more than 100
women from the village, placing them in a camp where they were fingerprinted
and DNA samples were taken, before most of them were released.
On 11
April, daily IDF raids continued in the village, and troops continued to
maintain roadblocks at the entrance. According to allegations by Israeli
leftists and Awarta residents, soldiers humiliated residents and damaged
property. Palestinian officials claimed that Israel had seized land around the
village to expand nearby settlements. The Palestinian Authority
condemned the raids and called on the international community to pressure
Israel into halting them.
Shin Bet
questioned numerous Awarta villagers who had been arrested, with some residents
who had been arrested and released being again questioned by Shin Bet
investigators. Meanwhile, the IDF also questioned residents in various parts of
Awarta. The interrogations produced various leads, but slowly, the circle of
potential suspects was narrowed. At this stage, the IDF's elite Duvdevan Unit
and the Israel Police's special undercover unit began making secret arrests of
suspects, and interrogations of the suspects produced additional intelligence
information. Hakim Awad was arrested on 5 April, but only started to cooperate
after more information pointed to him. Amjad Awad was arrested on 10 April.
Forensic evidence gathered from the Fogel family home linked them to the
killings. The two were identified as the perpetrators, and kept in custody
pending trial. On 17 April, it was officially cleared for publication that
Amjad and Hakim Awad had been identified as the killers. Both suspects
confessed to the killings and offered a detailed account. They expressed no
remorse for their actions, and performed a reenactment of the attack before
security officials. Amjad Awad declared that he was proud of what he did and
had no regrets, even if he was sentenced to death.
Subsequently,
Hakim's father, two uncles, and brother were arrested for hiding the murder
weapons and suppressing additional evidence. Israeli security forces also
arrested the PFLP militant who they had approached for weapons, and raided the
Ramallah home of Yazed Hassan Mohammed Awad, Salah Awad's contact who had
hidden the two stolen assault rifles following the attack. Both of the assault
rifles were found in his home. In addition, Yazed Awad was found to have
briefed Amjad and Hakim on Shin Bet interrogation teqniques. He was arrested,
and in December 2012 was convicted by a military court.
Trial and
conviction
On 26 May 2011, the Judea and Samaria
Sector Military Court extended the remand of Amjad Mahmad Awad and Hakim Mazen
Awad for eleven days. The Military Prosecution informed the court that it would
file an official indictment at their next arraignment. The Military Prosecution
considered requesting the death penalty, due to the extreme nature of the
attack.
On 5 June 2011, Amjad and Hakim Awad
were indicted before the Judea and Samaria Sector Military Court on five counts
of murder, stealing weapons, breaking and entering, and conspiracy to commit a
crime. The suspects confessed to the murder and the military prosecution in the
case presented forensic evidence linking them to the scene of the crime,
including DNA samples and fingerprints. According to a senior Shin Bet official
involved in the investigation, despite the suspects' young age, Hakim and Amjad
"described what they did with self-control and did not express regret over
their actions at any stage of the investigation." Amjad told reporters in
the court "I don't regret what I did and I would do it again. I'm proud of
what I did and I'll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it
all for Palestine."
Hakim Awad was found guilty on five
counts of murder in August 2011. He was also convicted for weapons-related and
other security offenses. In September 2011 he was sentenced to five consecutive
life sentences and another five years in prison. Prior to the sentencing Awad
declared he was not sorry and claimed he carried out the attack "because
of the occupation." In
October 2011, Amjad Awad pled guilty to five counts of murder. Before deciding
whether to convict him, the judges examined the primary evidence. On January
16, 2012, he was sentenced to five life terms and an additional seven years in
prison. The judges had seriously considered imposing the death penalty, but
decided not to seek a harsher sentence than what the prosecution had requested.
Responses
Israel
In response to the Itamar attack, on
13 March, the Israeli cabinet approved the construction of 500 housing units in
Gush Etzion, Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel and Modi'in Illit, areas of the West Bank
that Israel intends to keep under any permanent accord with the Palestinians.
The decision was taken in a late-night cabinet meeting in which both Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak took part, after
several alternatives, such as starting a new settlement or widening the
settlement of Itamar, were rejected. The decision was criticized by the
Palestinians and the United States. A spokesperson from the U.S. State
Department told the Jewish Week that the "United States is deeply
concerned by continuing Israeli actions with respect to settlements in the West
Bank" and that "[c]ontinued Israeli settlements are illegitimate and
run counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
visiting relatives of the victims, told the mourners:
"They shoot and we
build."
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
voiced his opposition to imposing the death penalty on the perpetrators, saying
that Israel "should not be guided by revenge."
On 4 April 2011, a new bill was
proposed by MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima) to keep murderers of children from being
included in prisoner exchanges and allowing them to be pardoned by the
President at any future date.
In the aftermath of the attack,
Israeli military and police forces were deployed near Nablus to prevent
clashes.
According to Palestinian sources and
the BBC, Israeli settlers vandalized property near Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem
and Ramallah in revenge for the Fogel murders. They also reportedly handed out
threatening leaflets in Beitillu, near Ramallah, blocked a junction in Gush
Etzion and threw stones at Palestinians. Several were arrested by IDF and
police forces deployed on the scene. Israeli activists blocked an intersection
near Psagot on Highway 60. According to the Palestinians, residents of Bat Ayin
took part in a protest at which the Israeli police fired tear gas. Settlers
near Nablus and Kedumim area reportedly stoned and burned Palestinian vehicles,
and blocked the Jit Junction. Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, Rosh Yeshiva of the Od
Yosef Chai Yeshiva in Yitzhar, is said to have called for houses in a nearby
village to be demolished.
On March 13, Israelis protested at the
Horev, Tzabar, Megiddo, and Azrieli Junctions, carrying signs proclaiming
"we are settlers too" and "peace isn't signed with blood."
Drivers honked their car horns in solidarity. Right-wing activists protested
near Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University students held at rally near Highway 4,
chanting "enough to violence and incitement – talk to humans not
murderers".
On 14 March, settlers clashed with
Palestinians near Nablus, which ended after Israeli troops dispersed the
Palestinians with live fire. An Israeli settler and ten Palestinians were
wounded during the clashes. Three days later, two Palestinian workers employed
in Shilo were attacked by masked men armed with iron rods and pepper spray, as
was an Israeli securtiy guard who attempted to protect them.
On 16 March, 200 settlers marched from
Itamar to Awarta. Fourteen marchers entered the village and threw stones at
homes. IDF soldiers and Border Police gendarmes dispersed the rioters. Some
marched up a hill near Itamar to support the construction of a new Israeli
outpost there.
An opinion poll conducted by the Harry
S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Palestinian
Center for Policy and Survey Research found, according to the groups, "In
light of the attack in Itamar, 59% among Israelis oppose and 33% support the
government policy to relax the security measures in the West Bank such as the
removal of road blocks." The groups asked 601 adult Israelis interviewed
by phone in Hebrew, Arabic, or Russian between 21 and 28 March 2011.
On 16 March Haaretz reported
that residents of Itamar were building a new outpost, unofficially named
"Aryeh." "Aryeh" is Hebrew for lion, as well as an
approximate acronym for the names Udi, Ruth, Yoav, Elad and Hadas, the five
victims of the attack. On 1 December, Aryeh was demolished by Israeli Civil
Administration personnel backed by IDF troops and police officers. During the
demolition operation, three permanent structures, two makeshift structures and
a synagogue were razed. A control panel and the electricity system that powered
a security camera purchased by the Shomron Regional Council were also
destroyed, and a security official claimed that the electric system was illegal
and was destroyed to protect Civil Administration personnel from being
electrocuted. Settlers claimed that three Torah scrolls were confiscated.
American
A memorial service for the Fogel
family was held at New York's Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun a week after the
attack. It was attended by 1,000 local residents, with 2,000 more viewing a
live broadcast over the internet. President of the New York Board of Rabbis
Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier said of the victims that they "were treated as
criminals for settling and building beautiful lives in the heartland of our
ancestral holy land." Pastor of the Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem,
Reverend Jacques DeGraff, told the gathered mourners, "I'm here today because
it is not enough for the friends of Israel to issue a statement." The
service was jointly sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations, the Consulate General of Israel in New York, the Jewish
Community Relations Council of New York, the UJA-Federation of New York, and
Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun.
Gary Rosenblatt, editor-in-chief of The
Jewish Week, commented that reactions to the Itamar killings may have been
more muted given that the victims were religious Israelis living in a small
West Bank settlement. He stated that if the victims had been secular Jews
living inside the Green Line "outrage would have been far greater".
Italian
A delegation of Italian Jews from Rome
visited Itamar on 30 March and extended a donation of €25,000 to support the
three surviving children of the Fogel family. President of the Jewish community
of Rome Riccardo Pacifici said, "We come with a message of solidarity and
support."
Finnish
A team of Finnish performers wrote a
song in memory of the Fogel family for the annual Benei Akiva Jewish Eurovision
contest, held this year in Rome, Italy. The team was inspired by the fact that
daughter Tamar Fogel's life was spared owing to her being out of the house at
the time of the attack, attending a Benei Akiva event.
Official reactions
President
Shimon Peres said, "This is one of the ugliest and most difficult events
that we have known, the murder of parents with their small children – among
them a three-year-old boy, and a five-month-old baby girl – while they were
sleeping in their beds. It shows the loss of humanity... There is no religion
in the world, no faith that allows for such horrendous acts."
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he was "deeply shocked" and
that he stands behind the residents of Judea and Samaria, adding, "We will
not allow terror to determine the settlement map." He also told
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that it was not enough to condemn the
violence because it "is against Palestinian interests," but because
it is morally unacceptable. "I expect that you stop the incitement in the
schools, school books and mosques, and educate your children toward peace, as
we do. The murder of children in their sleep is murder for the sake of
murder." He blamed the terror attack on continuing incitement against Jews
in the Palestinian Authority.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited
the Fogel family's home in Itamar three days after the killings and expressed
his admiration for the people of Itamar, stressing that it is "the state's
duty to guarantee the security of Israel's residents" and that there
should be no security compromises by Israel and no retreat to the 1967 borders.
Lieberman also urged the Palestinian Authority to end incitement, stating that
"we cannot talk peace with anyone talking about bloodshed, hatred, and
murder. We must draw conclusions on the political level".
In what Haaretz
described as "an unprecedented decision", the Israeli Minister of
Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein decided to release
horrific photographs from the scene of the attack. The photos show the stabbed
and bleeding bodies of the members of the Fogel family, with only their faces
blurred, as requested by their relatives. Although the photographs were
distributed to the international media, no serious news organization has
published them to date.
IDF Chief
of Staff, Rav Aluf Benny Gantz, visited Itamar the day after the attack and
vowed, "We will not rest until we lay our hands on the murderers. This
incident is atrocious, its perpetrators capable of beastly crimes." At a
meeting of the IDF senior command early the following week, Gantz remarked,
"I have seen many things in my life but I have never encountered such
inhumanity."
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni expressed outrage over the attack but criticized
the government decision to approve 500 housing units in Judea and Samaria as a
response to the terror attack, because she felt it links the building to
terror.
Arab-Israeli Knesset
member Ahmad Tibi called the perpetrator a "coward", and said that
"the Palestinian nation is ashamed of such people, who distort its image
and its righteous struggle to free itself of the occupation. A struggle must be
moral, conscionable, and fair. There are rules to the struggle against the
occupation".
Commemoration
In February 2012, more than 1,000
members of the Likud party visited Itamar and planted 1,500 trees in memory of
the Fogel family victims as part of annual Tu Bishvat festivities throughout
Israel.
COMMENTS
& CONDOLENCES
I give my heartfelt condolences and
cry with the remaining members of the Fogel Family. I have strong empathy and
sympathy for the children who will grow up without parents. I myself condemned
this homicide and I wished that the perpetrators can pay with their lives like
Amrozi the Smiling Assassin. I have to admit that the two terrorists are
similar to Umar Patek who is totally unrepentant.
I encouraged everybody to donate
money and support the Israeli Organization, ‘We Value Life’. They want to
reinstate the death penalty for terrorist.
I hope this message
from Glenn Beck will comfort and console the Israeli people.
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