The leadership of the World Jewish Congress has expressed outrage at the murder of five members of a Jewish family, including two children and an infant, by Palestinian terrorists in the Samarian settlement of Itamar. Ruth and Udi Fogel, and their children Yav, Elad and Hadas, were murdered in the early hours of Saturday morning. Two of the Fogel family's other children escaped unhurt. WJC President Ronald Lauder called on the Security Council of the United Nations to condemn this terrorist atrocity immediately and take action. "These souls have not committed any crime, and yet they were executed in their beds just because they were Jews. Let's hope the UN assigns this cold-blooded act of terrorism at least equal importance it usually gives Palestinian campaigns against Israel's rights," Lauder added.
WJC Secretary-General Designate Dan Diker said: "This barbaric execution of children is the natural consequence of the ongoing orchestrated incitement of the Palestinian public to hatred of Jews and Israel in the Palestinian media, mosques and schools. It is unacceptable for Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to limit his opposition to this terrorist act by telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it is 'inconsistent with Palestinian political interests'. Now is the time for Chairman Abbas and his ministers to show leadership for peace, unequivocally condemn this vicious act, act decisively against the fanatics that indoctrinate these terrorists, and end the culture of violence that continues to be the breeding ground for Palestinian terror".
On Monday, Abbas condemned the killing on 'Israel Radio' and said he was determined to help catch those responsible. His remarks followed a complaint by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the PA's earlier condemnation of the attack had been lukewarm. "This was a disgraceful act, inhuman and immoral," Abbas said in Arabic comments translated into Hebrew by the interviewer. "I'm not capable of seeing a four-month-old baby girl murdered, or a woman slaughtered," he said. "Any person who has a sense of humanity would be pained and driven to tears by such sights." Abbas said he telephoned Netanyahu to offer condolences as well as help from his security force in solving the attack. "Had we had advance information, we would have prevented this. Now we want to know who carried it out."
Meanwhile, the European Jewish Congress (EJC) has called on the European Union to demand that the Palestinian Authority completely halt all incitement against Israel and Jews in order to continue receiving aid. The EU is currently one of the largest donors to the PA, with individual European nations also contributing to the Palestinian economy. EJC President Moshe Kantor said that the murder of a family sleeping in their home on the Jewish Sabbath is the direct result of Palestinian incitement in the media, in mosques and in the educational system.
“The European Union, and individual European nations, have influence through the aid they send. Rather than giving the Palestinians a blank cheque, they should expressly state that this money is only to be transferred when the Palestinian Authority dismantles the machinery of hate and builds a culture of peace and tolerance," said Moshe Kantor, the EJC president.
