As Tel Aviv attacker remains on loose, Netanyahu comes under fire
Herzog says ‘Israel has no leader’; PM reportedly conditions aid package to Arab community on ‘law enforcement’; father of suspected killer calls for son to turn self in
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog said Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failures in dealing with the ongoing wave of terror attacks show that the country does not have a functioning leader, as the hunt for the man who shot up a Tel Aviv bar continued for the fourth day.
Mohammed Milhem, the father of 29-year-old Israeli Arab Nashat Milhem, made a televised plea Monday for his son to turn himself in, as Tel Aviv denizens hunkered down amid ongoing searches for the suspected terrorist.
“I will help you,” Mohammed told TV cameras. “Come, let’s finish this saga.”
Speaking at his Zionist Union faction’s weekly meeting in the Knesset, Herzog slammed Netanyahu for comments made on Saturday night at the site of the Friday afternoon attack.
“Israel does not have a prime minister,” Herzog said. “If Israel had a prime minister, he would not incite against one-fifth of Israel’s citizens and make them into outlaws.
“There would not be such a moral nadir,” Herzog continued. “If Israel had a prime minister, he would be working day and night to stop the terrible terror that is running amok in the streets. This isn’t a car accident, it is not a malignant disease or any other excuse, it is not a wave that passes… it is a Third Intifada.”
For over three months, almost-daily Palestinian terror attacks have targeted Israeli civilians and security forces with knives, shootings, and car rammings. Government officials have asserted that, despite the attacks, the country is not facing an intifada — a Palestinian popular uprising.
On Saturday night, visiting the scene of the attack the day before on the coastal metropolis’s Dizengoff Street, Netanyahu had railed against anti-Israel “incitement” in the Arab community. He also vowed to compel national loyalty from Arabs, as well as increase law enforcement in Arab population centers.
The comments drew a volley of criticism from opposition lawmakers, who accused the prime minister of inciting against Israel’s Arab population.
Netanyahu rejected Monday the reproach of his statements about the the Israeli Arab community and pointed to a recently approved NIS 10 billion ($4 billion) government plan to improve Arab communities.
However, Netanyahu also appointed two ministers to dangle NIS10 billion of the aid package to the Arab community in exchange for “law enforcement,” Channel 2 reported Monday night.
Joint (Arab) List head Ayman Odeh rejected the proposal, calling it “spin” and “incitement” from Netanyahu.
“I hear the criticism and I am not prepared to take it,” Netanyahu said at the opening of his Likud faction meeting. “Just last week, the government I lead approved an unprecedented plan on behalf of the Arab public.”
As the hunt for Milhem went on, Netanyahu called on the public not to criticize the activities of the police and security forces as they try to locate the suspect.
“They are working round the clock, and so am I,” he said.
Speaking to the media, Muhammed Milhem said the days since the attack have been hard on the family.
“I condemn the incident and empathize with the suffering of the bereaved families, and wish a recovery to the injured,” he said.
On Sunday, police said Milhem fled the scene of the shooting on foot, hailed a cab, and rode to north Tel Aviv, where he murdered the driver before abandoning the vehicle.
Police had said earlier they were certain the fugitive was also responsible for the murder of taxi driver Ayman Shaaban, which took place less than an hour after the shooting at the bar. (Shaaban, a father of 11, was laid to rest Sunday.)
According to Hebrew media reports based on police sources late Sunday, Milhem was known to have fled the scene of the shooting on Dizengoff Street on foot, and hailed a cab on nearby Ibn Gabirol Street. The cabbie drove to north Tel Aviv, where Milhem worked. There, Milhem is alleged to have killed Shaaban outside the Mandarin Hotel. He then drove the cab to Namir Road, where he abandoned it near a bus stop.
Thousands of police have been carrying out searches around the city for Milhem, and Israel has also reportedly reached out to the Palestinian Authority for help locating him.
At the same time, the city has struggled to return to normalcy since the attack, with the famously vibrant and laid-back seaside metropolis seeming unusually jittery. Usually crowded sidewalk cafes have been half-empty and parents have stopped sending their children to school, fearful of lax security with the killer still on the loose.
Earlier in the day, Mayor Ron Huldai said he was working on getting the city back on its feet, even offering “Buy one, get one” drink deals on city hall, Channel 2 reported.
The two victims of the Friday Dizengoff Street shooting — Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi — were buried Sunday, with thousands in attendance. Two people critically injured in the shooting are no longer in danger, according to a report from Ichilov Hospital. One of them has a bullet lodged in his skull, which cannot be removed, the hospital said.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
