Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the 13 ministers of his security mini-cabinet held an official meeting in Ofrah this morning, as a salute to both the grieving Hershkovitz families and the entire community. Ofrah is also marking its 26th birthday today. They first paid a condolence visit to the families following yesterday\'s terrorist murder of Assaf Hershkovitz, 31, father of two. He is being mourned by his wife Hila, as well as his mother Geulah, his 11-year old brother and two sisters; they also recently suffered the loss of their husband/father Aryeh Hershkovitz, who was similarly killed by terrorists three months ago. The Prime Minister, who himself experienced the loss of two wives and a son, told Geulah that it is very hard to overcome such losses.
The high-level ministerial convoy was greeted at various points along their way from Jerusalem to Ofrah by protestors from Pisgat Ze\'ev, Adam, Kokhav Yaakov, Psagot, Beit El and other communities. They held signs reading, \"Sharon, Give Us Security!\" IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha’ul Mofaz and other senior IDF officers also arrived in Ofrah today, visited the families, and were briefed on yesterday\'s murder and the security measures taken afterwards.
Arutz-7\'s Kobi Sela recorded the conversation between Geulah Hershkovitz - Aryeh\'s widow and the bereaved mother of Assaf - and Prime Minister Sharon:
Geulah Hershkovitz: Foreign correspondents asked me yesterday if we had started thinking of leaving the country because of all the terrorism; they didn\'t ask me about leaving Judea and Samaria, but about leaving Israel altogether! ... Mr. Sharon, just like Ben-Gurion said, please ignore the American pressure...
Sharon: The Americans are not exerting any pressure, and it doesn\'t matter what the headlines say.
GH: So then if it is their money [that is pressuring us], we don\'t need their money, this country is willing to settle for pita, and we\'ll be strong in spirit... As I told you on the phone, I am still waiting for the old Arik Sharon - I am still waiting...
Arik Veinberger, a cousin, continued along the same lines: \"We know the Arik Sharon of history, from the books. You know how to take care of this situation, you don\'t need 100 days of grace... We very much appreciate your efforts to unite the entire country, but even more important is to provide security for all the citizens of the State - not only those of Judea and Samaria, but of the entire country...\"
Sharon said that there is no simple solution, but promised to do everything he could to end the violence: \"People thought there was a solution that would take one day, but there isn\'t.\" One of the women said, \"But at least a direction, a ray of light, something...?\" Sharon said, \"Look, I don\'t like to make grandiose announcements, such as \'We will cut off the hand of those who attack us,\' [as Barak often said]...\"
He was then interrupted: \"But you are holding talks with the enemy.\" The Prime Minister responded strongly, \"We are not talking [there] about diplomatic matters. I will tell you in the clearest way possible: There will be absolutely no diplomatic talks while the violence continues, and it doesn\'t matter what headlines there are...\"
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer later told an Ofrah resident with a half-wink, \'Don\'t worry, soon you\'ll see results…\'
The high-level ministerial convoy was greeted at various points along their way from Jerusalem to Ofrah by protestors from Pisgat Ze\'ev, Adam, Kokhav Yaakov, Psagot, Beit El and other communities. They held signs reading, \"Sharon, Give Us Security!\" IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha’ul Mofaz and other senior IDF officers also arrived in Ofrah today, visited the families, and were briefed on yesterday\'s murder and the security measures taken afterwards.
Arutz-7\'s Kobi Sela recorded the conversation between Geulah Hershkovitz - Aryeh\'s widow and the bereaved mother of Assaf - and Prime Minister Sharon:
Geulah Hershkovitz: Foreign correspondents asked me yesterday if we had started thinking of leaving the country because of all the terrorism; they didn\'t ask me about leaving Judea and Samaria, but about leaving Israel altogether! ... Mr. Sharon, just like Ben-Gurion said, please ignore the American pressure...
Sharon: The Americans are not exerting any pressure, and it doesn\'t matter what the headlines say.
GH: So then if it is their money [that is pressuring us], we don\'t need their money, this country is willing to settle for pita, and we\'ll be strong in spirit... As I told you on the phone, I am still waiting for the old Arik Sharon - I am still waiting...
Arik Veinberger, a cousin, continued along the same lines: \"We know the Arik Sharon of history, from the books. You know how to take care of this situation, you don\'t need 100 days of grace... We very much appreciate your efforts to unite the entire country, but even more important is to provide security for all the citizens of the State - not only those of Judea and Samaria, but of the entire country...\"
Sharon said that there is no simple solution, but promised to do everything he could to end the violence: \"People thought there was a solution that would take one day, but there isn\'t.\" One of the women said, \"But at least a direction, a ray of light, something...?\" Sharon said, \"Look, I don\'t like to make grandiose announcements, such as \'We will cut off the hand of those who attack us,\' [as Barak often said]...\"
He was then interrupted: \"But you are holding talks with the enemy.\" The Prime Minister responded strongly, \"We are not talking [there] about diplomatic matters. I will tell you in the clearest way possible: There will be absolutely no diplomatic talks while the violence continues, and it doesn\'t matter what headlines there are...\"
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer later told an Ofrah resident with a half-wink, \'Don\'t worry, soon you\'ll see results…\'