Israeli Officials Unite Against Arab MKs’ Visit to Terrorists’ Families

A number of Israeli officials have slammed Arab members of Knesset for making a condolence visit to the families of terrorists on Tuesday.

Several Arab MKs from the Joint List party, including Hanin Zoabi who has long been in the spotlight for activities and statements deemed by the Israeli establishment to be supportive of terrorism, visited the families of terrorists whose bodies are being held by Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that those who participated in the visit should not be in the Knesset and that action should be taken against them.

“Members of Knesset who go to console the families of terrorists who murdered Israelis do not deserve to be in the Israeli Knesset. I have asked the Speaker of the Knesset to examine what measures can be taken against them,” the prime minister said.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan called upon governmental legal advisors to look into whether the visit constituted a crime of support for acts of murder and terror. He also promised that the bodies of the victims would not be released unconditionally.

“The bodies of the terrorists will not be released until their families meet the demands of the police that are intended to ensure that the funerals will not turn into demonstrations of incitement and support for terrorism. Arab MKs just did exactly the opposite,” he declared.

Netanyahu and Erdan were joined by Yesh Atid Party Chairman Yair Lapid in condemning the visit, arguing that it was an unprecedented show of solidarity by the Joint List with those who murder innocent people and that it reflected hatred and subversion against the State of Israel.

“We cannot meet such heinous acts with silence. We must condemn the MKs who met with the families of the despicable terrorists,” contended Lapid.

Yisrael Beiteinu Party Chairman Avigdor Lieberman has been at the forefront of the campaign to remove Hanin Zoabi from the Knesset for acts that include telling a Hamas newspaper that Palestinians must “put Israel under siege instead of conducting negotiations” and for refusing to condemn the killers of the three Israeli teens who were kidnapped and murdered in 2014.

Lieberman again called on his Facebook page for the MKs to be removed from the Knesset.

“There is no need anymore for proof that Joint List MKs are a party filled with representatives of terror in the Knesset. The MKs’ visit to families of those who killed Jews is simply a reminder to those who still require it that these terrorists must be removed from the Knesset as soon as possible and, ideally, from the State of Israel as well,” he said.