Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein
Knesset Speaker Yuli EdelsteinHezki Ezra

MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud) has sent a letter to all 119 other Knesset members and asked them to tone down their rhetoric, in view of the violent events of the last few days, and the high tension between the Jewish and Arab sectors in Israel. Edelstein asked the parliamentarians to refrain from harsh statements that could fan the flames of animosity between Arabs and Jews.

Edelstein also called the father of Mohammed Khder, the 16-year-old who was cruelly murdered in what investigators say was an anti-Arab revenge attack by Jewish extremists.

Edelstein expressed his anger over the murder. “We are all deeply shocked here in the Knesset by the incident, which is hard to fathom. There are no words to comfort parents who have lost their child.”

Khder's father asked Edelstein to make sure that the murderers receive a just trial. Edelstein responded, saying “I promise you that justice will be done in the trial of the murderers – and that this will be a trial that they and the state will never forget.”