Yair Lior, the father-in-law of Aryeh Gotlieb who was seriously injured in yesterday's attack near Hebron, sharply criticized the government's conduct and demanded "the total deportation of everyone connected to terrorism".
He first addressed the attack itself: "I know the Nigri family, but first of all I want to say something at the national level," he said in an interview on Radio 103FM. "It is true that my dear son-in-law was seriously injured and survived, while another resident of Beit Hagai was murdered, the eighth in total. The Jewish people are returning to the Land of Israel after two thousand years of exile and large parts of us do not understand the magnitude of the event. We falsely believe that the true inhabitants are people who arrived here a total of 1,300 years ago when the Muslim religion was established."
According to him, "The goal of these murderers, who were unfortunately apprehended (and not killed), is to interfere with the lives of the people of Israel and the establishment of the State of Israel in any way they can. You can remember all the buses, the explosions, the Molotov cocktails, the rockets, everything they have done. We have no interest in killing anyone, but we have an interest in ruling the country, settling it. We have to act with an iron fist, really hurt them, demolish their homes, and completely deport anyone who is connected to terrorism and does not want to live here in peace. Now - not in a while from today."
In light of his statements, the radio presenter wondered whether in his opinion the Netanyahu government, together with ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, is doing enough on the issue, and Lior clarified: "I am here at this point, at this moment when we just yesterday buried our neighbor and my dear son-in-law is injured, I am not interested in attacking the government but would like to change our conception. Why were the terrorists caught alive? It's important to catch them alive, but they should at least get the maximum possible punishment, otherwise you and I and everyone who pays their taxes to the state will feed them for the rest of their lives - this does not solve the problem."
"The one who needs to do these things is the government of Israel. I ask the Prime Minister and all the members of the government: Come to your senses, use all the power we have. I call first of all to destroy the homes of all those connected to the recent terror attacks. To do things that will hurt them - to drive them and not allow them to return," he declared.