Rivlin hosts iftar meal, calls on PA to condemn terror surge

President says its impossible for Palestinian leaders, society to ‘stand by idly’ in face of ‘brutal and criminal terrorism’

President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday held a traditional iftar evening meal, marking the breaking of the day’s Ramadan fast, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem and called on Palestinian leaders to speak out against the terror attacks that have claimed the lives of two Israelis in recent days — a 13-year-old girl and a father of 10.

Rivlin hosted the evening meal in the company of Muslim religious community leaders, senior Israeli officials and the ambassadors to Israel of Jordan, Egypt, Uzbekistan, as well as the Turkish charge d’affaires.

“It is unacceptable that the Palestinian leadership and society can encourage or stand by idly in the face of such brutal and criminal terrorism,” Rivlin said. (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has not spoken out against either attack.)

Earlier in the day, Rivlin had paid a mourning visit to the family of Hallel Yaffa Ariel,13, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist while sleeping in her bedroom in Kiryat Arba on Thursday morning. Rivlin also delivered a eulogy Sunday at the funeral of Rabbi Miki Mark who was killed in a Friday terror attack when his family car came under gunfire while driving along Route 60 near Hebron in the West Bank. His wife and children were injured in the attack.

Rivlin said that “the Palestinian leadership and society have a responsibility to stop the next murderer.”

Reproduction photo, courtesy of the family, of Hallel Yaffa Ariel, 13, who was stabbed and killed in a terror attack in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, in the West Bank on June 30, 2016 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“In these blood-soaked days, not only have we not heard the voices of the Palestinian leadership in any form, worse still, we have heard voices who give succor and support to the murderers and their families. One who does not stop the terror which attacks us today, will find it at their own door,” he warned.

As of Sunday night, Abbas had refused to condemn the current surge in Palestinian terrorism, including the killing of Ariel on Thursday and Mark on Friday. He was also reportedly refusing to take calls from Israeli and world leaders who are seeking to encourage him to speak out and has ordered media loyal to him in the Palestinian Authority to keep the terror cases out of the headlines.

Rina Ariel mourns over the body of her 13-year-old daughter Hallel Yaffa, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist in her home, during her eulogy in the Kiryat Arba settlement on June 30, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Meanwhile, the family of the terrorist who killed Ariel hailed him as a hero and “martyr” and the governor of Hebron paid a condolence visit to the family, earning him an entry ban to Israel.

Speaking on Sunday, Rivlin said: “We must not as leaders, ignore the vitriolic and murderous incitement, not one of us can remain silent or fail to speak unequivocally.”

The president praised cooperation and co-existence projects between Arabs and Jews across Israel and encouraged more such initiatives.

“Your joint and clear voice should be heard at every opportunity. The stronger it is, the more courageous, and clearer, the more and more vital forces will join it, from the mainstream of the two societies. On all our shoulders rests the task of continuing to building – every day – the trust and bridges between us,” he told Muslim leaders.

“We must continue to courageously pave a joint path, to lay each tile for us, for our children, for the sake of their children. We have no other option. We do not want and are not prepared to give up our future; a future of partnership, of understanding, of mutual respect, of living in peace, “he added.

President Reuven Rivlin speaks during the funeral service for Rabbi Miki Mark at the Otniel yeshiva on July 7, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Earlier Sunday, thousands of mourners attended the funeral ceremony for Mark in the West Bank settlement of Otniel, two days after he was killed in a drive-by shooting terror attack outside Hebron.

Rivlin, a distant relative of the victim, said the whole nation was grieving with him over the loss of Mark.

“You were a righteous and modest man who gave of his own even when he knew it couldn’t be repaid,” Rivlin said in his eulogy, held at the seminary Mark directed.

Miki Mark, who was murdered in a terror attack near Hebron on July 1, 2016 (Courtesy)

“Terrorism has accompanied us from our first days here but it isn’t able to weaken us,” Rivlin said. “We are not loosening out grip on the land. Terrorism will never undermine our hold on the land and a Jewish life isn’t worthless. We will continue to fight terrorism without fear. The IDF and security forces will cut down the terrorists who cut your life short.”

Mark was the director of the Orthodox yeshiva in the settlement of Otniel.

A father of 10 and the cousin of Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, he had lived in the settlement with his family for years.