Abbas fails to condemn murder of Israelis in Ramallah speech
Abbas fails to address the murder of an Israeli couple in speech which took place during a celebratory ceremony held in Ramallah upon his return from the UN on Friday night.
Mahmoud Abbas failed to condemn the murder of an Israeli couple, Eitam and Na'ama Henkinin, a terror attack during a speech at his Ramallah headquarters on Friday night.
Abbas was speaking within the framework of a ceremony held to welcome the Palestinian leader upon his return from the UN General Assembly.
Abbas instead opted to focus his address on the commitments he made at the UN, stating that, "I stand behind everything that i said on the UN stage, and will work to implement the decisions."
Netanyahu reacted to Thursday's attack saying "“The killers knew that they were murdering a mother and father, the children were there. It has been proven again that the wild Palestinian incitement leads to acts of terrorism and murder such as we have seen this evening,” said Netanyahu."
The Prime Minister singled out Abbas, saying that when Israelis perpetrated the attack in Duma, every official in Israel strongly condemned the act, while he himself visited the family in the hospital. Yet Abbas had not issued a single condemnation of the couple's murder, and that his utter silence in the face of the despicable attack was telling.
“Compare this to the silence of the Palestinian leadership now, I have not heard their condemnation,” Netanyahu said.
In a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday, Netanyahu said, "I appreciate your strong statement of condemnation. I have to say that I yet not heard any condemnation from PA. Worse, I heard senior official form his Fatah movement praise this action."
Netanyahu added that, "This murder will not go over without response. We already increased the forces in the field. We will find these murderers and bring them to justice," promising that he would, "make sure terrorism brings no reward."
Eitam and Na'ama Henkin were laid to rest Friday morning at Jerusalem's Har HaMenuchot in an emotional ceremony attended by thousands after being killed Thursday night in a shooting attack on their vehicle in the West Bank
 |
The couple's four children were in the vehicle during the attack, but escaped unharmed. The oldest, 9-year-old Matan, took to the stage to say Kaddish for his parents as he struggled to contain his tears.
