Deborah Gonen, the mother of Danny Gonen, who was murdered by terrorists in 2015, slammed the government for failing to deter terrorist attacks.
Gonen, who also serves as chairman of the Forum for the Selection of Life of Bereaved Families and Victims of Hostilities, told Arutz Sheva: "There is an inability of the Israeli government to build a deterrent package and a strong hand against the terrorists who are motivated by hatred of Jews and seek only to murder Jews."
To her, the deadly attack in the Barkan industrial zone last week proved that coexistence does not prevent terrorism. "They want to murder us even in a place of cooperation. Everyone said that the activity in the Barkan industrial zone is co-existence and then a terrorist and a murderer of Jews got up at the factory itself."
Gonen claimed that if Israel responded to terrorism with a heavy hand it would create real deterrence. The terror attack raises its head and the Israeli government does not understand this: In the terrorist attack in Barkan, why did not they come to demolish the family's house, expel them and deny them work permits?. Even if in the end they come to demolish it, they will just seal a room."
"Why have they not demolished the houses of the terrorists whose house they already decided to demolish, like the house of the terrorist who murdered the soldier Ronen Lubarsky? The time has come to say to the High Court of Justice: We respect you, but the government must decide on security issues, not you," said Gonen.
According to her, the death penalty could have achieved the effective result as part of significant deterrence. "In the case of the Lubarsky family, they wanted the panel of judges to have the right to ask for the death penalty, and that too, was not allowed. The terrorists know in advance that most of the time that they will survive, that their homes will not be demolished, and that their families will not be deported. They understand that the terrorist will go to jail and the family will receive a salary. The government's message is that it pays to kill Jews."
She recalls that "the family of the terrorist who murdered the late Ari Fuld already received a salary that night. The Knesset Internal Affairs Committee is debating whether to release terrorists because the prisons are crowded, so the terrorists know that they will one day be released - whether it be in a deal or not. A terrorist who goes out to kill a Jew must know that he will die and that we will not return his body."