Every Regional Council in Judea and Samaria reacted with outrage and bitterness – and anger at the government – in response to the deadly terror shooting attack Thursday evening at around 7 pm that took the life of a 20-year-old yeshiva student and wounded two others.
Samaria
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan – in whose region the attack took place – called on the Israeli government to change its response to terror. He also demanded that Israel re-establish the Jewish town of Homesh at the site of the attack.
“This government, whether we elected it or not, is responsible for the security of every citizen in the State of Israel,” Dagan pointed out.
“It cannot be that time and time again civilians are shot in central places in the State of Israel. . . Jewish blood cannot be abandoned,” he said.
Kiryat Arba-Hebron
“Tonight we saw the “settler violence” near Homesh,” Kiryat Arba-Hebron Council head Lt. Col. Eliyahu Libman said in a bitterly sarcastic condemnation of the attack.
“The incitement against the settlers does not remain in the Twittersphere but permeates our enemies, who do not waste time and kill the best of our sons and daughters.
“It’s advisable to look at actions, not talk,” Libman added.
Mount Hebron
Mount Hebron Regional Council head Yochai Damari pointed out that for the past several weeks he has been warning about “the bloodshed of the settlers” in an ongoing “campaign of false incitement and slander.
“The address, unfortunately, is written on the wall in the blood of the victims!!” Damari emphasized.
“It is time to stop incitement and to allocate reinforcement for the settlers against the violence of the Palestinians and against their supporters who oppose the Zionist actions of half a million [Jewish] residents in Judea and Samaria,” he said.
“I share the grief of the family and offer my wish for complete healing to all the wounded,” he added.
Gush Etzion
Shlomo Ne’eman, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, said in a harsh statement of his own, “Welcome back to the real world of good and evil. A world where there are murderers and murdered. A world where there is cruelty versus love. A world where the destroyers and buildings of the land are living.
“On this difficult evening we send our condolences to the bereaved family, we wish the wounded a swift recovery.
“All the settlers of Judea and Samaria send a huge brotherly hug to the students of the Homesh Yeshiva: build and be prepared.”
Benjamin (Binyamin)
Binyamin Regional Council Chairman Israel Gantz echoed the words of his fellow community heads.
“We shouted that terrorism is raising his head,” Gantz said in a statement. “We warned against the backlash from Arab rioters who swallow the words of members of the government. We demanded an iron fist against the rioters in order to get terror off our heads.
“Unfortunately, tonight we are paying with precious and painful Jewish blood. The Israeli government must recalculate a route,” Gantz said.
Yesha (Judea & Samaria)
The Yesha Council also issued a statement, saying, “It’s been a difficult evening, a shooting attack on yeshiva students who came out of a pentagon [intersection].
“There are no compromises in the war on terror. Tonight we demand from the prime minister an appropriate Zionist response – to normalize the settlement at Homesh and the access road to it,” said Yesha Council chairman Yigal Dilmoni.
“The writing for this attack has been on the wall. For some time now we have been demanding an arrangement for adequate security for Homesh and the students in the place.
“We send our condolences to the precious family of the deceased and a speedy recovery to the wounded.
“No shooting will overwhelm us; we will continue building and settlement,” Dilmoni vowed.