The Israeli Arab city of Umm al-Fahm. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Controversy erupted in Israel on Thursday after the municipality of the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm extended condolences to the families of the terrorists killed after murdering two Border Police officers in the city of Hadera last week.

Israeli news site N12 reported that the death of the terrorists — Ayman and Ibrahim Agbaria, two Islamic State-sympathizers from Umm al-Fahm — prompted a statement from the municipality signed by Mayor Samir Sobhi Mahameed telling their families, “We take part in your sorrow and extend sincere condolences from the depth of the heart, may God have mercy on them.”

After the statement was issued, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked ordered the ministry’s Director-General Yair Hirsch to contact Mahameed and request that the statement be removed from social media, which it subsequently was.

“It is unthinkable that a municipality in the State of Israel will send condolences to the families of terrorists,” the ministry said. “This is a terrible and disgraceful post and it’s good it has been erased.”

“The interior minister will continue to show zero tolerance for support for terror on social media networks and in general,” it added.

In an interview with N12, Mahameed disavowed the statement, saying, “The post went up on the Facebook page without my authorization and without my knowledge.”

“We are taking about a serious mistake,” he added. “I asked for the post to be taken down immediately, and the issue is currently under investigation.”

He said that the statement “does not represent Umm al-Fahm and the municipality.”