Opposition MKs visit Arab town where four residents were killed by Iranian missile
Benny Gantz says attacks don’t distinguish between Jewish and Arab towns; Yair Golan expresses solidarity with residents; Gilad Kariv pledges to build better reality for all Israelis
Opposition lawmakers visited the northern Arab city of Tamra this week to pay condolences to the families of those killed in an Iranian missile barrage over the weekend. Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition have been criticized for failing to make similar visits.
Accompanied by Tamra’s Mayor Musa Abu Rumi, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, along with MKs Matan Kahana and Michael Biton, toured the city on Monday, while a day earlier, The Democrats party leader Yair Golan visited with MKs Naama Lazimi and MK Gilad Kariv.
“It was important for me to come to Tamra today, both to share in the pain of the personal loss and to clearly say that there is no place for inflammatory and partisan calls like those heard by individuals who do not represent society,” Gantz said.
“This is true in everyday life and even more so in an emergency. The missiles from Iran do not distinguish between Petah Tikva, Tel Aviv, or Tamra. My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones; condolences from me and from all the people of Israel.”
On Saturday, during a major barrage launched by the Islamic Republic, a missile struck a two-story home in Tamra, killing three women and a girl, and injuring some 10 people.
The women were named as Manar Khatib and her two daughters, Hala, 20, and Shada, 13, as well as another relative, also named Manar Khatib. The latter was married to the brother of the father of the family.
Residents of the Arab city have long warned that there is a dearth of bomb shelters in the area, and that almost no homes have a safe room attached. By law, buildings constructed in Israel since the 1990s are required to include a bomb safe room; however, there is limited enforcement by local and national authorities.
Some government critics on social media pointed out that Netanyahu and other senior government ministers visited other deadly impact sites, such as in the central city of Bat Yam, but not the one in the majority-Arab city in the north.
“Tamra, we are with you,” Golan wrote in a post on X, following the visit.
תושבי טמרה, אנחנו איתכם pic.twitter.com/whlz2Ed0tM
— Yair Golan – יאיר גולן (@YairGolan1) June 15, 2025
Writing about his visit, Kariv said the residents he met all expressed hope for the same thing, “a dignified life, personal safety, and a good future for their children and grandchildren.”
“It is our duty to turn this shared ambition into hope that will lead to the building of a better and safer reality for Israel,” he said.
מסיים בעיר טמרה שבגליל המערבי יום קשה, במהלכו ביקרנו גם בבת ים ובחיפה.
בכל אחד מהמקומות האלה פגשתי אנשים המייחלים לאותם הדברים – חיים בכבוד, ביטחון אישי ועתיד טוב לילדים ולנכדים שלהם.
החובה שלנו היא להפוך את השאיפה המשותפת הזו לתקווה שתוביל לבניית מציאות ישראלית טובה יותר… pic.twitter.com/Beb4CeAgV9
— גלעד קריב (@KarivGilad) June 16, 2025
Lawmakers on Sunday condemned a video circulating on social media that showed a Jewish family cheering as Iranian ballistic missiles fell in Tamra.
“On the village, on the village!” a man could be heard shouting in the clip.
He and others then broke into singing the anti-Arab phrase “May your village burn,” clapping as missiles rained down on the neighboring city.
So far, 24 people have been killed and more than 500 wounded in Iran’s ballistic missile attacks, launched in response to Israel’s surprise campaign against the Islamic Republic, which began early Friday.
Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent its longtime adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. At the beginning of the campaign last Friday, it said the situation had become an immediate existential threat to the Jewish state.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 224 people, according to Iranian officials.
The Times of Israel Community.