The Ettinger family
The Ettinger familyCourtesy of the family

The widow of an Israeli rabbi murdered by an Arab terrorist last month praised the IDF for demolishing the home of her husband’s murderer Wednesday morning, while also calling on the government to expel the terrorist’s family from the country.

Overnight, the IDF demolished the home of Omar Abu Leila and his family in the Palestinian Authority-controlled town of Zawiya, west of Ariel, in Samaria.

During the seven-hour demolition operation, residents clashed with Israeli forces, hurling stones at the IDF soldiers.

Tamar Ettinger, the widow of one of Abu Leila’s victims, praised the IDF for the operation.

“We very much appreciate and laud the IDF soldiers and security forces who risked themselves to go out and demolish the home of the terrorist who murdered my husband, Ahiad, and the soldier Gal Keidan,” Ettinger told TPS.

But Ettinger, the widow of Rabbi Ahiad Ettinger, added that the demolition itself was insufficient, and that the terrorist’s family should be expelled as a deterrent to future attacks.

“That being said, we call on the Israeli government to change its policy and to understand that these are not lone wolf attacks – it is an enemy who is attacking us and trying to wipe us out, with a whole system of education directed towards that purpose! Therefore, our response must be appropriate.”

“Anyone who cannot live here with us peacefully – he and his family have no place here! We call on the prime minister and the security establishment to work towards the immediate expulsion of the terrorist’s family, and to expel every family who raises up a murderer. That is the real path to deterrence.”