Minutes after news of the fatal attack on the Bat Mitzvah party became known, the PA-controlled city of Tul Karem - some 9 miles southeast of Hadera - erupted in joyous celebration, including gunshots in the air. Arabs in Jenin reacted likewise. Although at least one PA official condemned the attack, observers were reminded of the similar joy expressed by many Palestinians after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Asked to comment on this display of utter hatred and inhumanity, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed - rabbi of the Shomron community Har Brachah - told Arutz-7\'s Yosef Zalmanson today, \"First of all, it\'s clear that this hatred is something deep, and is directed against everything the Jewish People stands for - including G-d. Secondly, it\'s nothing new; if anything, it shows that the media have been remiss in not reporting on this hatred before. The PA educates its citizens to hate, again and again, and this is the result.\" Asked if those who display such hatred should be particularly targeted by Israel\'s military responses, Rabbi Melamed said, \"No. The main goal has to be to ensure that the Jewish People retain the Holy Land, and our actions must be planned according to what will achieve this goal. I do think that not only the terrorist himself should be punished, but also his family, friends, and those who support him… I think that we should be taking tougher actions in the current war against the Palestinian, just as the Americans carried out some very grave actions against civilians in Afghanistan.\"
Asked to comment on this display of utter hatred and inhumanity, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed - rabbi of the Shomron community Har Brachah - told Arutz-7\'s Yosef Zalmanson today, \"First of all, it\'s clear that this hatred is something deep, and is directed against everything the Jewish People stands for - including G-d. Secondly, it\'s nothing new; if anything, it shows that the media have been remiss in not reporting on this hatred before. The PA educates its citizens to hate, again and again, and this is the result.\" Asked if those who display such hatred should be particularly targeted by Israel\'s military responses, Rabbi Melamed said, \"No. The main goal has to be to ensure that the Jewish People retain the Holy Land, and our actions must be planned according to what will achieve this goal. I do think that not only the terrorist himself should be punished, but also his family, friends, and those who support him… I think that we should be taking tougher actions in the current war against the Palestinian, just as the Americans carried out some very grave actions against civilians in Afghanistan.\"