Menashe District Police Commander Shimon Ben Shabo who was responsible for the Umm el-Fahm terrorist funeral, responded in a Kann Bet interview to the harsh criticism voiced by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan regarding police conduct at the funeral and preceding it.
"We must take things from all the criticism that need to be improved, and certainly when the Minister says so," he said.
He added that the police believed the terrorist's family in the course of contacts with lawyers. "Some incidents just need to be buried, sometimes literally. We had the authority to delineate conditions, we entered into negotiations with the family that I myself managed, and we got the impression our conditions would be respected.
"I don't think that the terrorist's family cheated us, but the surrounding atmosphere created it. There were calls in the mosques about handing over the body that inflamed spirits," said Ben Shabo.
"From the moment the body was handed over to the police, we didn't see fit to stop the funeral despite the violation of the conditions," he said.