Bibi Lashes Out at Israel’s Critics in Visit to Family of Slain Mom of 6
Image by Getty Images
By John A. Oswald January 19, 2016
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the grieving husband and six kids of slain settler mom of Dafna Meir — and vowed to destroy the family home of her alleged teen killer and to take away their work permits, Israeli media reported Tuesday.
He also railed against Israel’s critics, particularly in the European Union, and urged them to visit the Otniel settlement where Meir work as a nurse and ran a gynecology clinic.
“Whomever wants to understand the truth that lies at the heart of the Palestinian conflict with Israel, should come to Otniel,” Bibi said, according to a transcript of his statements to reporters on the Israel National News website.
“You should meet this incredible family that only wants to live in mutual peace. And you should then look and see the incitement of the Palestinian youth who come to kill women. Here a mother of six children. In Tekoa a pregnant woman. The Palestinian youth come to kill them and say: We will kill all of you. In Tel Aviv as well as in Jaffa. That is the truth.”
“We continue to fight against our enemies and destroy the house of the terrorist who committed this act, and revoke the visas of Palestinian workers as well as carry on with all of the other activities that the IDF, who caught this terrorist, is involved in,” he added.
A Palestinian 16-year-old was arrested late Monday for the stab slay of the 39-year-old Meir at her home over the weekend. She was buried Monday in an emotional ceremony in Otniel and then in Jerusalem.
“You have humanity and a desire for coexistence on one side, and unbridled hatred that knows no borders on the other. This hatred has a source. It is due to the incitement by the Palestinian Authority and other bodies such as the Islamic Movement and Hamas, and it is time that the international community stops their hypocrisy and calls the child by his name.”
Here is the rest of what he said about Meir’s husband Natan and six kids after the visit:
“I met a wonderful family who possesses enormous spiritual strength. They are Zionist, patriotic, personable, and they have lost a wonderful mother and spouse. I believe that everyone who has seen even a picture of Dafna immediately reacts to the amount of light that she gave off. Anyone who heard about her and about her tremendous ability to give back to others, knows that she was indeed a very special person.”
“People can get a very strong sense of someone when they hear a story, or see a picture. They immediately understand how special and unique a person was taken from us. I found the same type of uniqueness in the souls of Natan and the children. They asked only one thing of me, that I continue to strengthen and uplift Israel.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
