Government officials expressed grave concern over the shooting incident at a Beersheva branch of Bank Hapoalim, in which four people were killed. Police said that the shooting was carried out by a 40 year old former IDF officer who owed the bank money. The disgruntled customer attempted to get the bank to relent on his debt and allow him access to his account, but failed. He then went home to get a weapon and returned, shooting in all directions.
The shooting was a first for Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said. “This was a terrible tragedy and a serious situation,” the Prime Minister said in a statement. “I cannot recall when something like this happened, certainly not in recent years. This is not a common event in Israel,” as it was in other countries, Netanyahu added.
“We cannot let something like this happen again,” Netanyahu added. “We will work to ensure that it does not happen again. I send my condolences to the families of the victims, and my wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured.”
MK Avidgor Lieberman, Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that an incident like this “has an impact on everything, and makes clear what is more important.” Although it was carried out by an Israeli, the incident, to Lieberman was “a terror attack for all intents and purposes. We must learn our lessons from this incident and work on ways to ensure that it does not happen again,” he said.