Yossi Dagan, who heads the Samaria Regional Council, reacted to the shooting attack on the road to Avnei Hefetz Wednesday with a demand to close off the road to Arab traffic.
"Regrettably, this is the second time in two months that a shooting attack takes place on a road about which we issued warnings, and asked that it not be opened to Palestinian traffic. It is too bad that our warnings have to be painted in blood."
"The shooting attack today took place on an access road to Avnei Hefetz, on which there is no reason for Palestinians to drive," Dagan stressed. "Six months ago, I spoke to the division commander and to MK Yariv Levin, and I asked and warned against opening the road to Palestinian traffic. I am sorry to say that the consideration regarding European opinion have defeated security considerations of the citizens of Israel.
"The people paying the price are the relatives of the casualties," he stated.
The demands to block Arab use of central roads in Judea and Samaria have become increasingly vocal in the course of the current murderous terror wave.
Three days after the November 13 car ambush in which a father and son were murdered near Hevron, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) visited the location of the attack and said that cars with Palestinian Authority license plates should not be allowed to drive on the road, which was once off-limits to Arab drivers.
He warned: "This reality, in which the place where Palestinians – some of whom may be terrorists – continue to drive through a location where a terror attack took place, is unacceptable.
"At a place where a murder occurred, the Palestinians should have to detour and not [be allowed] to drive through" Ariel opined.
"I call on the prime minister and defense minister to decide immediately which roads they are closing and which checkpoint should be renewed."
Ariel and local Jewish leaders are fighting to re-close Route 60 to Arabs and put back the checkpoints at the exits from villages to the route. All of these were taken down as "confidence building" measures at the request of the US government.