Terror victim's wife to PM: 'We don’t want to feel like land thieves'
Yael Shevah, a mother of 6 whose husband Rabbi Raziel Shevah was slain in a drive-by shooting terror attack, urges Netanyahu to legalize outpost of Havat Gilad where the rabbi lived and was buried, arguing that more construction was the appropriate response to terror; 'We buried him here so he could never be removed.'
Yael Shevah’s comments come on the heels of calls by pro-settler movements and activists for the government the legalize the outpost in response to the attack, reasoning that to do so is not only a matter of principle, but is also the best deterrence against further attacks.
During her statement delivered to the media, Mrs. Shevah addressed her remarks to the prime minister directly, telling him: “We want to live here as proud Jews standing tall, to feel proud that we live in the Land of Israel. We don’t want to fight for every piece of land.”
Shevah also described the experiences she had endured for the past 24 hours as a widow with six children.
“He was murdered when he was on the way back from a brit milah (circumcision), a mitzvah (commandment), to perform another commandment. No one asked him if he wanted to die. Neither did the murderer," she said as she wept.
"We chose to bury him here (in Havat Gilad) because we truly felt that that is the most befitting statement. This is his last mission on this earth—to leave a stake that will be impossible to uproot again.
"Raziel took a vow of silence. He would speak to me in messages. He was an approachable father, he never minded a bit of rambling and being silly. Even during a brit milah he would tell jokes to the baby’s mother,” Yael said as her statement was interspersed with pauses.
Rabbi Shevah’s brother also addressed the calls for revenge during the funeral on Wednesday and the contempt shown for Education Minister and Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett during his eulogy.
“We don’t seek revenge. The revenge is to build more and have more children and bring more light to the world,” he said. “My brother was a happy man who brought hearts together. He was a huge sacrifice.”
Speaking in an interview with Ynet, head of the Samaria Regional Council Yossi Dagan said Yael was the spiritual community coordinator of Havat Gilad and described her husband as “a character who was deeply loved by children, who did many things, especially for children here in Samaria.”
The community, he continued, would now be called upon to support Yael and the Shevah family “to overcome this terrible crisis, the accompany Yael and her wonderful children and see how they recover from this terrible thing.”
Dagan also echoed Yael’s statements, saying that the appropriate response was to ramp up construction projects in the area.
“Havat Gilad and all of Judea and Samaria, just like the Negev, the Galilee and Jerusalem, need to see construction because we are Zionists and this is a Zionist country whose job is to build on the Land of Israel,” Dagan said.
“This is the answer to those murderers who may be sitting in Nablus or any other place drinking coffee and saying: ‘Wow. We managed to murder Jews. Look at how they are suffering.’ No, we’re suffering, but we are strengthened by this,” he stated defiantly.
