Yossi Tzur
Photo: Uri Davidovitch
Bereaved father: Returning terrorists' corpses 'senseless'
Yossi Tzur tells Ynet that the government is failing to stand by its decisions, having returned 20 terrorists' remains to their families last month; he says that it removes a valuable deterrent.
Whilst government ministers frequently publicly oppose returning terrorists' corpses to their families, a total of 20 such bodies were returned last month. Tuesday morning, Yossi Tzur—who lost a child to a terrorist—told Ynet that he considered the government's failing to stand by its decisions "senseless."
The sensitive issue hardly penetrates public consciousness, as the return of the bodies is nearly clockwork: Friday afternoons, after the Israeli public is far removed from the goings-on and Shabbat is about to begin throughout the country.
Only a few months ago, at the height of the wave of stabbing attacks, some ministers announced that they were firmly opposed to returning terrorists' corpses for burial by their families. But over the past year, the families of those terrorists petitioned the High Court of Justice (HCJ) thrice to order the return of their loved ones who died while attacking Israelis. In response to the petitions, the state announced that it would waive its objections so long as the families would meet the limitations imposed regarding the nature of the funeral and the number of attendees.
Mass funeral for returned corpse (Photo: Uri Davidovitch)
Tzur told Ynet, "I think that today, when we have in Gaza two fallen soldiers—Hadar Goldin and Oren Shaul—whom we're trying to get back, it's pretty obvious to everyone that it's a completely senseless measure that basically neutralizes the nearly only means of pressure that we have."
He continued, "We want every terrorist to have to think twice about what will happen to his family and how his mother and father will feel afterwards. We see that returning bodies isn't only an act of returning, but rather funerals that become mass funerals. Attempts to reach agreements that it'll be a modest funeral of twenty people at night haven't succeeded."
"I would be happy if the government would stand by its decisions and do whatever is necessary," Tzur added. "I think that the government understands that returning bodies is the wrong move and that it's a step that encourages terrorist and only encourages others to commit more and more attacks."
Tzur explained that families who have lost members to terrorist have been angry about this subject for years and that they've tried to prevent the return of terrorists' corpses. "Unfortunately, the HCJ in this case is cooperating is with the government and not with us," Tzur claimed. "I think that the matter needs to be categorized as a security issue that can't be discussed by courts. We'll continue to protest and oppose returning bodies."
