Bereaved father Hanan Sorek slammed Binyamin (Fouad) Ben-Eliezer on Monday after Ben-Eliezer said he supported the release of arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, who is currently serving five life sentences in Israeli prison. Ben-Eliezer called Barghouti “a dependable leader” and said he would fight for his release.
Sorek, who lost his 23-year-old son Eyal, Eyal’s wife Yael, and the couple’s unborn child in a shooting attack in 2002, sent a letter to Ben-Eliezer harshly criticizing his decision to support Barghouti. “Fouad, the man whose patron you are becoming, Barghouti, initiated murderous operations, sent terrorist shooters to lay in wait for Israeli soldiers and civilians, and pushed Fatah to take part in mass terrorist attacks,” he wrote.
Sorek told Ben-Eliezer that he, his brothers, his sons, and his son Eyal's father-in-law had all served in elite IDF combat units. “The things you said today are not in the spirit of the IDF, or the spirit of the morality of the state of Israel, or the spirit of human morality! Your words hurt many soldiers, captains, and civilians like an arrow in the heart,” he said. Sorek warned that Barghouti had been released from jail before and gone on to murder Israelis, including his son and daughter-in-law, and would continue to take part in murderous attacks if he were to be released a third time.