Netanyahu
Photo: AFP
Netanyahu pledges to continue to 'build up our land'
After laying a wreath at the State Memorial Ceremony for Ze'ev Jabotinsky in Jerusalem, prime minister slams Halamish terror attack as 'the fruit of unbridled Jew hatred,' vows to never let terror 'defeat us'; Rivlin decries failure of unnamed public representatives to speak out against horrific slaughter.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised Sunday evening to never let terrorism triumph in Israel and expressed his condolences for the Salomon family after Yosef Salomon, 70, and his children Haya Salomon, 46, and Elad Salomon, 35 were murdered in Halamish on Friday night in a terror attack.
Speaking at the State Memorial Ceremony for Ze'ev Jabotinsky at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem at the same time as the three victims were being buried in Modi’in, Netanyahu said: “We are in Jerusalem, and our hearts are in Modi'in, at the funeral of the members of the Salomon family.”
Denouncing the “heart-rending” and “vicious” attack in which Omar al-Abed broke into the settlement and knocked on his victims’ door before going on the rampage with a large knife, Netanyahu attributed the act to anti-Semitism, describing it as "the fruit of deep and unbridled Jew-hatred.”
Netanyahu and Rivlin (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
“We have been dealing with murderous terrorism for 100 years and we will defeat it. The pain is deep but our roots in the land are no less deep. Terror will never defeat us. Terror will never defeat us,” he emphatically vowed. “We will continue to strengthen our state; we will continue to build up our land."
President Reuven Rivlin also spoke at the memorial where he slammed some public representatives for failing to condemn the gruesome massacre.
“The heart breaks at such moments of mourning and turmoil, but it is impossible for public representatives and elected leaders to be silent. The acts of terror, the violence on and off the mountain so holy to Jews and Arabs, must be condemned and must be stopped," he said.
Opening his remarks after laying a wreath, Rivlin described the happy occasions being celebrated in the Salomon home before the the terrorist entered and snatched their lives.
“Yossi, Elad, and Chaya, who were marking the arrival of another child to their family, and were brutally murdered at their Sabbath table. Our hearts, the hearts of all the people of Israel, are with the Salomon family and the community of Halamish at this difficult time.
"I send my condolences, and those of all the people of Israel, to the families of those murdered, and I want to offer strength and support to all the security forces, the IDF, the ISA, and the Police, who are working day and night to protect the people and the land."
