Police officer Moshe Hen
Police officer Moshe HenHadas Parush/Flash90

Moshe Hen, the police officer who was injured in a terrorist attack at the A-Za'im border crossing in 2015, has penned a letter to Police Commissioner Katy Gondar and to Public Security Minister Omer Barlev in which he asks that the request of the terrrorist for reconstructive plastic surgery to be funded by Israel be rejected.

Asra'a Jabas was sentenced to 11 years in prison after she caused a gas balloon to explode near the A-Za'im checkpoint near the city of Maaleh Adumim in 2015. Hen, who was at the scene, suffered burns to his face and chest, and Jabas herself suffered burns, among other things to her nose. She has asked twice to receive money for cosmetic surgery, and both times her requests were rejected. However, she has undergone multiple medical treatments at the expense of the Prisons Service.

Now, however, the Prisons Service is reconsidering Jabas' request, prompting Hen to pen a letter to the authorities, aided by his lawyer, Michael Litvak of Betsalmo.

"This week, my client was astounded to hear, via the media, the the Prisons Service is considering funding nose surgery for the terrorist who injured him," he wrote. "My client vehemently opposes this. How can it be that the lives of a police officer and his family can be ruined and the terrorist receives hundreds of thousands of shekels from Israeli tax payers?"

According to Litvak, "My client suffers from post-traumatic symptoms to this day, and also remains with scarring and burn injuries. But instead of Israel Police endeavoring to see that he receives funding for the surgeries that he needs, the system is trying to help the terrorist who injured him! I demand that all efforts be made toward the recovery of my client, and that not a single shekel goes to the terrorist beyond what she is entitled to by law."

Hen, via his lawyer, also demanded to be kept updated on what ultimately happens with the terrorist's request.

"The State of Israel owes a great debt to Moshe Hen, who prevented a huge tragedy from occurring and to this day suffers from the injuries he sustained," said Shai Glick, director of Betsalmo. "The government should be concerning itself with his welfare and ensuring that any surplus funding available should be transferred to him and his family. It is unthinkable that public funds should be used to go beyond the letter of the law to help a terrorist who tried to kill dozens of Jews. Terrorists must be made to realize that they are not in the Hilton; they are in prison, in order to suffer. We demand that Minister Barlev publicly issue a commitment that the government will not fund this terrorist's operation."