Neta Lavi
Neta LaviScreenshot

Neta Lavi, the widow of terror victim Nehemia Lavi, is finding it difficult to look at pictures of her husband's murderer's parents.

Muhannad Halabi's mother and father were recently photographed while making victory gestures on Wadi Street in Jerusalem's Old City, at the site where Nehemia Lavi was murdered.

Halabi stabbed and killed Lavi, along with an IDF soldier Aharon Bennett, nine months ago.

"The situation, and the fact that they are not treating the root of the problem, is very painful for me. They aren't dealing with the root, which is incitement, and they are handing the area over to the murderers. How is the name of the murderer, who murdered two people and wounded a woman and children, going around as a national hero? And they're letting it happen here in Israel."

According to Lavi, the fact that the Palestinian Authority has named a road after the murderer says it all. "There are things that we can prevent. Letting the mother of the terrorist come to the Old City and be photographed like this is something we can prevent. We need to enforce the law and bring them to justice.

Neta Lavi continues to uphold her husband's legacy and tries to help other families. "We are also occupied with memory and pain, but we are not drawn to it. We try to raise ourself up and to push the cart forwards. To do all sorts of actions to make things better; that help us as well as others in similar situations. Many people have asked to hear about my husband, who was a rabbi at Yeshiva Ateret Cohanim and the pre-military academy in Beit Meir.

"What characterized him was his relationship with the entire Jewish People. He had friends from all shades of Judaism. Both his haredi and his secular friends came to visit us, and they truly had a deep friendship. He strove to impart all of this on the children as well. Some Friday nights he took one of our sons to a hassidic group to pray and return, and it was a normal part of our lives."