Bennett (L), Tamam family.
Bennett (L), Tamam family.Education Ministry spokesman.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) visited the family of slain IDF soldier Moshe Tamam hy”d Monday morning.

Bennett explained that he wanted to visit Tamam's next of kin in order to personally assure them that the play glorifying their son's terrorist murderer has been removed from the list of state-funded cultural events intended for youths.

Bennett was referring to the play "The Parallel Time" by Almidan, an Arab theater in Haifa, which tells the story of Walid Daka, an Arab-Israeli imprisoned for abducting and murdering Tamam in 1984.

Bennett expressed his sorrow over suffering the family had to go through in its struggle to remove the play from the state-subsidized “culture basket,” and promised that no more schoolchildren would be taken to see it.

"The first time Moshe was murdered was horrific,” he said. “But only in Israel, can you die more than once. The second time, they wanted to free Moshe's murderers and we prevented this. This time, they were mounting a play about the murderer with state funding, and we prevented this. I promise to continue to be your protective shield as long as I can. The family has suffered enough. I apologize for your suffering on behalf of the state of Israel.”

The family thanked the minister for “alleviating some of the pain,” and said that the play had been “twisting the minds of the students.”

"I read the play's script,” said Oren Tamam, Moshe's brother. “It is unbelievable how they present the terrorist who murdered my brother there. For 19 years my brother was alive, 31 years he has been under the ground. This play was preparing the ground for more horrible deeds. This play had to be taken down.”

Bennett's opposition to the fourth batch of terrorist prisoner releases in which the four murderers of Tamam were due to be freed last year was partially credited with blocking the move, which came as a "gesture" in peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA). Critics note that Bennett remained in the government while the first three batches were released in 2013, totalling 78 terrorists, many guilty of murders no less heinous than that of Tamam.