MK Limor Sonn Har Melech (Otzma Yehudit) on Saturday evening slammed the defense system for arresting a former parliamentary assistant following a lynch on Jewish shepherds on Friday.
"When a patrolman in Tel Aviv eliminates a terrorist, he receives praise from all of the defense bodies, but when a Jew defends his life in Binyamin [Region] from an Arab mob which has come to kill him, he is arrested while he is still injured," she said. "I suggest the defense system turn its strength to dealing with the 'terror nests' instead of persecuting the residents of Binyamin, who hold onto our land with dedication."
MK Tally Gotliv (Likud) wrote, "A sadist terrorist murderer from Jenin. May G-d avenge the blood of hero Amir Hen. This is how terrorists are. Just like 80 Palestinians attacked and injured, with stones, Jews who were shepherding their flocks. And we, with great insanity, arrest the Jews who were defending themselves. We are playing into the terrorists' hands. It's simply horrible. Instead of clarifying to them that Jewish blood, including that of the settlers, is not cheap."
The Honenu organization said that dozens of rioters from the village of Burqa attacked a group of Jewish shepherds and a number of settlers who came to help them on Friday evening at sundown. The Arab attackers used stones, clubs, and explosives on their victims, and one of the Jews suffered serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent a surgery on his head. According to Honenu, the Jewish victim succeeded in defending himself with his last vestiges of strength, using his personal weapon, which he held with a license. It was later reported that a young Arab had died in the incident.
The Jewish victim was evacuated from the scene by his friends, who met up with an ambulance which transfered him to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in serious condition. There, he underwent surgery. Throughout his entire hospital stay, police officers have stayed beside his bed. On Friday night, police arrested a second Jew who was at the scene and who helped evacuate the victim to the hospital.
Both of the Jews arrested are suspected of murder due to nationalist motives.