Brigadier General Yair Golan, commander of the West Bank military division, arrived at the Asheri family home Tuesday afternoon in order to describe the affair to the family members.
According to the father Yitro, the family found comfort in the fact that their son is now speaking positively about the Land of Israel.
"The price we paid is terrible, no one asks for such a thing to happen to him, but this is God's will. We have paid the dearest price there is. The recent prayers have not been for nothing, they elevate the people of Israel's situation. The people have to understand what is the gift of the Land of Israel that God gave. The people of Israel are in need of education and love and we must educate them," he said.
The father said that he began fearing for his son's life on Monday evening, when there were reports on a kidnapped settler.
"We didn't call Eliyahu at the moment, we called the head of the preparatory program in the morning. We started making phone calls and filed a police complaint," he recounted.
Yitro Asheri asked to deliver a message to the international community: "Check your conscience with a dense comb, as you mat have assisted those terror organizations."
Shot at close range
In a statement summarizing the IDF's recent activities in Ramallah, which included the capture of the murderers of Itamar youth Eliyahu Asheri, Central Command Chief Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh said: "We were not able to bring back the boy, but we did close the case. Everyone knew that the IDF would find the perpetrators anywhere."
The major general went on to say that the terrorists' preliminary description of the events matches the one given to questioners by another member of their cell who was captured last week by SWAT forces.
"Eliyahu Asheri was kidnapped in the Ofrah junction and brought to Ramallah, where another three Palestinians joined the group. One of them shot him with a pistol at close range, using a pillow to muffle the sound. Afterwards, he was buried in the ground and members of the cell scattered in order to avoid detection.
According to Naveh, there was never the intention to conduct negotiations for the kidnapped youth, even when he was still assumed to be alive.