UN condemns ‘despicable’ attack in Jerusalem

Security Council finally speaks up on synagogue terror; Prosor says it ‘breaks silence on Palestinian violence only after Israelis slaughtered’

Thousands attend the funeral of three of the four victims killed in an attack on a synagogue in Har Nof, Jerusalem, November 18, 2014 (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Thousands attend the funeral of three of the four victims killed in an attack on a synagogue in Har Nof, Jerusalem, November 18, 2014 (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)

UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council condemned “in the strongest terms” the “despicable” terrorist attack at a Jerusalem synagogue that killed four worshipers and a police officer Tuesday.

“The members of the Security Council expressed their condolences to the families of all those who have died and sympathy to those injured and to the Israeli people,” the statement read.

Wednesday’s statement also urged all sides to work immediately to restore calm as tensions rise between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor said in response that it was “disappointing that only once Israelis are slaughtered at prayer, the Security Council remembers to break its silence on Palestinian violence.”

“Now, after the international community has understood that the Palestinians have crossed all red lines, and in order to stop the bloodshed, [the world] must stop awarding Palestinians prizes and stop supporting unilateral actions [like recognizing a Palestinian state],” Prosor said.

Palestinian terrorists Uday and Ghassa Abu Jamal, cousins from East Jerusalem’s Jabel Mukaber neighborhood, on Tuesday burst into a crowded synagogue in Har Nof during morning prayers with meat cleavers and gunfire, killing four people and critically wounding a police officer who later died of his injuries, in a brutal attack that lasted several minutes.

Earlier Wednesday, thousands including Israeli President Reuven Rivlin attended the funeral of Zidan Saif, the Druze policeman who succumbed to his wounds late Tuesday night after a gunfight with the two terrorists at the synagogue. Saif, 30, was the first officer on the scene of the attack in Har Nof.

On Tuesday, hours after the deadly attack, Rabbis Aryeh Kupinsky, 40, Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, and Kalman Levine, 50, were laid to rest. The three were buried at the Har Hamenuhot cemetery in a joint funeral.

Rabbi Moshe Twersky, 59, was buried earlier in the day.

Last week, Prosor issued a scathing critique Security Council’s silence following multiple terror attacks against Israelis over the past month.

“Every day Israelis are coming under attack. Every day the crowds of violent Palestinian rioters grow larger,” Prosor wrote in a letter to the UN body. “And yet, this institution has not uttered a word to denounce attacks against Israelis. Ignoring incitement and terrorism is similar to supporting terrorism.”

The letter came last Monday, November 10, 2014, on the same day that two people died in separate terror attacks. IDF soldier Almog Shiloni, 20, of Modi’in died of his wounds following hours of attempts to stabilize his condition after a Palestinian terrorist stabbed him in Tel Aviv. Hours later, Dalia Lemkus, 26, was killed in a separate terror attack near the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut. She was run over and then stabbed in the neck and died at the scene.

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