A relative of three Palestinians slain in a firebomb attack in their home in a West Bank village in 2015 says he expects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put an end to a “campaign of incitement” by far-right coalition members — and by the premier’s son — in support of the Jewish terrorist convicted of the murder.
Far-right activists call for the release of Amiram Ben Uliel (pictured in poster), who was convicted of three counts of murder for the 2015 arson attack that killed three members of the Palestinian Dawabsha family, at the entrance to Jerusalem, September 1, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Over a million shekels have been fundraised amid increasingly vocal advocacy by far-right coalition figures on behalf of Amiram Ben Uliel, who is serving three life sentences plus 20 years for the arson attack in Duma, in which Riham and Saad Dawabsha were killed along with their 18-month-old son, Ali Saad. Only the couple’s 5-year-old son, Ahmed, survived the terror attack, with extensive burns.
Ben Uliel was found guilty in 2020 of three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, arson, and conspiring to commit a racially motivated crime, as part of a “terrorist act.”
Supporters of Ben Uliel have objected to the verdict primarily because his confession was obtained using what the Shin Bet calls “special measures” — decried as torture by him and by rights groups. He is believed to be one of the first Israeli Jews subject to such an interrogation by the Shin Bet, though the same tactics are widely believed to have been long used against Palestinians.
The family’s grandfather Hussein Dawabsha, the father of Riham, tells the Israel Hayom daily that “anyone who supports the murderer Amiram Ben Uliel is a partner to the crime and is encouraging terror against Palestinians.”
He adds that “members of Knesset and the people on the right who support him morally, financially or otherwise and who want his punishment and prison conditions to be eased — are themselves Amiram Ben Uliel.
“We must stop this to prevent the next murder,” Hussein Dawabsha says.
Lambasting Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, who earlier this week called Ben Uliel a “holy righteous man,” he says: “What she’s doing and saying is incitement to terror. I hope the authorities in Israel take steps against her and prosecute her.”
Meanwhile, two members of the coalition’s ruling Likud party voice criticism of the campaign.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana tells Channel 12 in an interview that the Duma murder was “hideous” and adds: “No doubt has arisen for me regarding the identity of the murderer.”
Culture Minister Miki Zohar tweets: “The person who murdered an innocent family… should remain in prison until his last day.”
