
Activists from the Im Tirtzu movement filed a complaint with the police on Wednesday against Dr. Anat Matar, after she praised convicted terrorist Walid Daka, who died in prison on Sunday.
Daka, a convicted terrorist, was imprisoned following his role in the kidnap, torture, mutilation, and subsequent murder of IDF soldier Moshe Tamam in 1986. In May of 2023, there was a renewed attempt to have Daka released from prison as he was ill with terminal brain cancer, but the motion did not pass and he was not released.
Dr. Matar, a professor of philosophy at Tel Aviv University, eulogized him, calling him a "source of inspiration," "a friend," and a "noble soul."
Im Tirtzu noted that this is not the first time Matar has endorsed anti-Israel rhetoric - two years ago she spoke out against the hanging of Israeli flags in the university library, noting: "This is what a disease looks like."
Shai Rosengarten, deputy chairman of Im Tirtzu, a major in the reserves and a master's degree student at Tel Aviv University, submitted the complaint which states: "Dr. Anat Matar's words of praise towards a convicted terrorist - Walid Daka, who was involved in the kidnapping and murder of a soldier, are a grave thing without equal. We have just returned from many months in the reserves to protect this country from vile killers, and that is what waits for us here at school. What kind of message is this to the combat soldiers? What kind of message is this to the bereaved families? For the families of the hostages? We expect the administration of Tel Aviv University to remove Dr. Matar from her post immediately following this incident."