Netanyahu Pledges Stronger Backing for Settlements
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Jewish settlers as “heroes” and promised to strengthen settlements Thursday at the funeral of a woman and her son, who were killed in a drive-by shooting.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Syrian-based Palestinian group opposed to the Israel-Palestinian peace agreements, claimed responsibility for the Wednesday shootings and linked them to Israel’s settlement policies.
Talks on an Israeli troop pullback in the West Bank town of Hebron are deadlocked, and Palestinians are angry over the approval this week of plans to build Jewish homes in an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Eeta Tzur, 42, and her son Efraim were killed by gunmen who opened fire on their car near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, then sped toward the Palestinian-controlled town of Ramallah. Tzur’s husband and four of their children were injured.
At the funeral, attended by thousands, Netanyahu’s voice shook with emotion as he pledged to strengthen government backing for the settlements.
“The Jewish people are rooted in the land of Beit El. These roots not only will not be uprooted, they will be deepened,” Netanyahu said. He also demanded that the Palestinians help catch the assailants.
In Kiryat Gat on Thursday, an Israeli man shot and killed a Palestinian worker who he thought was trying to break into his house.
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