Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan slams the Haaretz daily for “siding with the families with terrorists” with regard to Israel’s holding of Palestinian attackers’ bodies.
In a column for the left-wing newspaper, Erdan says it’s “ludicrous” to suggest that Israel is keeping the bodies as a deterrent or as revenge. The minister was responding to an editorial by the paper.
“It is regretful and disappointing to see that in this matter, Haaretz is standing on the side of the terrorists’ families, who insist on turning the funerals into mass demonstrations of incitement, and not by the state, which is demanding that they bury their dead without causing a danger to the public. Instead of lowering the flames, the Haaretz editorial staff is helping fan them,” he writes.
“Moreover, the explanation presented in the editorial, that the state has an interest in preventing terrorists from being buried for the sake of deterrence or punishment, is ludicrous. That claim appears in Palestinian propaganda and in its editorial, Haaretz lent it support. The truth is, to a great degree, the opposite. The Ministry of Public Security under my leadership is more committed to the law-abiding Arab population than it was in the past. We intend to build more police stations in Arab towns, to supply equal policing services and thus correct a long-standing injustice.”
Read the full response here.
Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan arrives at the weekly government meeting in Jerusalem, January 3, 2016. (Alex Kolomoisky/POOL)
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