Netanyahu slams PA after Jerusalem attack: 'No limit to lies, brazenness'

Netanyahu sent his condolences to the Malka family, saying their sorrow is the grief of the entire nation

By HERB KEINON
Updated: JUNE 19, 2017 01:38
PM Benjamin Netanyahu (photo credit: REUTERS)
PM Benjamin Netanyahu
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The international community must demand that the Palestinian Authority end payments to the families of terrorists, “something that only encourages terrorism,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Netanyahu’s comments came in the wake of two simultaneous terrorists attack at the Damascus Gate on Friday night that killed Border Police officer, Hadas Malka. Netanyahu noted that not only did the Palestinian Authority not condemn the murder, but Fatah – which is headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas – issued a statement condemning the Border Police for killing the three terrorists involved in the attacks.
“Apparently, there is no limit to lies and brazenness,” the prime minister said.
The same PA that refused to condemn the attacks will now pay salaries to the families of the murderers,” he added.
“I call on the nations of the world to condemn both the murder and those who praise it, and to demand the immediate cessation of Palestinian Authority payments to the families of terrorists,” he said.
Netanyahu told the cabinet that, since Friday, security forces have been operating in the villages near Ramallah where the terrorists came from, and are preparing to destroy their homes.
In addition, he said Israel revoked special permits for Palestinians to enter Israel during Ramadan, and that he directed the police to reinforce security measures and arrangements in the plaza around the Damascus Gate.
Israeli police react to deadly Jerusalem terror attack, June 17, 2017. (Credit: Israel Police)
Netanyahu also sent his condolences to the Malka family, saying their grief and sorrow is shared by the entire nation.
“Hadas was a young woman full of life who was imbued with sense of mission to defend the State of Israel,” he said. “Like her friend, Hadar Cohen, of blessed memory, she fell in the line of duty in a determined struggle against bloodthirsty terrorists.
Hadas and Hadar, who were pleasant in their lives, were not separated in death. They will remain linked forever in their heroism and their sacrifice on behalf of the nation and the state."
Cohen, also a Border Police officer, was killed in a stabbing attack at the Damascus Gate in February 2016.