Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai spoke to Army Radio on Thursday regarding Wednesday’s deadly terror attack at the Sarona Market in the center of Tel Aviv.
During the interview, Huldai linked the terror attack to what he referred to as “the occupation” – Israel’s liberation of eastern Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria in June 1967.
Huldai addressed the public celebrations in the Palestinian Authority following the terror attack, saying:
“We, as a state, are the only ones in the world with another people living among us under our occupation, denying them any civil rights.”
“The problem is that when there is no terrorism, no one talks about [the occupation],” claimed Huldai. “Nobody has the guts to take a step towards trying to make some kind of [final status] arrangement. We are 49 years into an occupation that I was a participant in, and I recognize the reality and know that leaders with courage just say things.”
“We need to show to our neighbors that we really intend to return to reality, to a Jewish state that is smaller but that has a solid Jewish majority.”
Huldai also appeared to show understanding for the spontaneous celebrations taking place in some Arab towns after the attack.
“You cannot continue to keep people in a situation where they are under your occupation and expect them to come to the conclusion that everything is fine.”
“The reality has to change for the worse in order for [our] awareness to change to the point where [we understand] that we have to evacuate.”