President of Israel Isaac Herzog, First Lady Michal, and Samaria Regional Council Chief Yossi Dagan visited the family of Meir Tamari, who was murdered in a shooting attack last Tuesday near the village of Hermesh in Samaria.
The President told Meir's widow, Tal, "We came out of love and a will to embrace you in the name of all the people of Israel. I know it isn't comforting, but G-d created us with an amazing ability to go through tragedies, and I wish you only know happiness. May G-d comfort you. I have no way to bring them back the way they were, but we came to Tal, and the whole family, to support them. The IDF, Police special forces, and all of the security forces are working all the time to locate the bestial terrorist."
Meir Tamari's family and wife told the President about Meir, his dedication to his family, and his love for the land of Israel. They demanded that the government work to prevent more attacks and, among other steps, to return the security checkpoints and expand the village of Hermesh as a Zionist response to the attack.
Tal, the widow, painfully told the President: "I've lived here since I was 14. The attack could have been prevented if there had been checkpoints and if there had been security here. It wasn't fate. They have to close the road from which the terrorist came."
The Samaria Regional Council Chief backed Tal up, saying: "I want to say that I, as the council head, when it comes to the checkpoints, I fell like someone whose feet aren't on the ground. I don't receive answers from anyone, not the government, not the defense establishment. On this specific checkpoint, I haven't gotten a clear answer. This checkpoint was blocked until 2006 and reopened to cut 10 minutes off of trips for Ya'bid residents. We are burying the dead. In Huwara as well, we had to pay with blood for them to close the checkposts, Hallel and Yagel and their family paid the price. This capitulation to international pressure in exchange for human lives is unbelievable. We feel forgotten."
Moshe, the victim's father, told the President: "You are citizen number one, I want, I ask that you help us here. To expand, help us build another community here, so there won't be attacks like these. These attacks are done because we're weak. If, after every attack, another 100 families would move in, the growing number of attacks would shrink by a lot. It would very much reinforce the residents in the area. I can tell you, as the father of a boy who was taken in his youth, in his 32nd year, I want to say, I appreciate what the USA does for us, but the US President can't work here instead of us. You are my President, and you are closer to understanding what I feel than Biden is. So I ask you, do what is needed. Change the situation. Build. Bring back the checkpoints, stop being afraid.
Tal's mother, Dalit, told the President: "There's no deterrence, as someone who has lived here for a long time, I tell you, recently, we feel that they demean us, and this murder proves that they look down at us. The terrorists didn't even rush to leave after they shot Meir, they drove slowly. Calmly. Meir never saw a problem, he never complained, he always saw the solution. That was his way. I ask that you find the solution here since this wasn't the first terror attack, and unfortunately, it's not the last."