MK Yinon Magal (Jewish Home) wrote a strongly-worded Facebook post Tuesday evening in reaction to the death of Malachi Moshe Rosenfeld hy”d, 25, who was gunned down north of Jerusalem Monday. The rookie MK wrote:
"So much blood on the hands, so much murder, an Arab nation that only brings to the world blood and blood and tears. And yet, we are the ones who are called war criminals. Anti-Semitism is back in a big way. Malachi Rosenfeld has fallen.”
The post caused hysteria among leftists, who saw it as “racist.” Angry commenters told Magal that the Arab nation has brought the world many good things, like algebra and the decimal system. Two hours after the original post, Magal changed the post to read:
“An Arab nation that mostly brings to the world blood and blood and tears. And yet, we are the ones who are called war criminals. Anti-Semitism is back in a big way. Malachi Rosenfeld has fallen.”
MK Michal Rozin of Meretz wrote a status that began with a short denunciation of the murder of Malachi Rosenfeld and proceeded directly to Magal's post.
“Nothing justifies MK Magal's unbridled attack on an entire Arab nation,” she wrote. “Yinon Magal is being irresponsible. We are two days away from the anniversary of the murder of Mohammed Abu Khder. The tension is in the air and such inciting words can turn explosive. The last thing we all want is to escalate into another cycle of blood like last year's. Jerusalem was burning then and Protective Edge was about to begin. It is critical now that elected officials speak in a responsible manner, and not add fuel to the fiery discourse.”
Abu Khder was cruelly murdered by Jewish extremists after the abduction and murder of three Jewish youths by Arabs. An Israeli crackdown on Hamas that followed the three youths' abduction led Hamas to fire rockets at Israel from Gaza, and Israel responded with Operation Protective Edge.
The leadership of Kochav Hashachar, in the Binyamin region, published a statement Tuesday following Rosenfeld's death, which offered condolences to the family and spoke about the possibility of unauthorized revenge attacks: “We ask resolutely to avoid revenge acts, which only weaken and deflect public attention from the justice of our struggle,” the leaders said.