Yesha Council Chairman Yisrael Ganz called for intensified action against terrorism in Judea and Samaria on Wednesday after IDF reservist Neria Leiter, son of Israel's Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, was critically wounded in a ramming attack in Binyamin.
Speaking from Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where doctors are fighting to save Leiter's life, Ganz noted that the attack came just days after Netanell Shukron was murdered in a shooting attack in Binyamin.
"I am standing here at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, with the Leiter family, after their son, Neria, was seriously injured in a terror attack in Binyamin," Ganz said.
Ganz noted that Neria continued serving as an IDF reservist despite the death of his brother during the war.
"Neria insisted on serving in the army, even though he was not asked to do that, because his brother fell in the war," he said. "He served in the reserves, and unfortunately, he was seriously injured in a terror attack in Binyamin."
"Doctors at Shaare Zedek Hospital are fighting to save his life, and we are praying for his recovery," Ganz added.
The Yesha Council chairman connected Wednesday's attack to the murder of Netanell Shakron, who was shot in Binyamin on Sunday after going to a spring to immerse ahead of Yom Kippur.
"On Sunday, a Hamas terrorist murdered Netanel Shakron here in Binyamin," Ganz said.
He contrasted the attacks with remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, when Macron said, "Hamas had never been very active in the West Bank."
"Yet yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron claimed at the UN that Hamas had never operated in Judea and Samaria," Ganz said. "These attacks show the reality he refuses to see."
Ganz said he had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before Netanyahu departed for the United States and urged him to take stronger measures against terrorism in Judea and Samaria.
"I told him, the terrorists want to build a terror state in the State of Israel," Ganz said. "We have to be clear: We will never have a Palestinian state in the State of Israel."
He called for Israeli forces to operate in the communities from which terrorists emerge and confiscate illegal weapons.
"We have to attack the towns that the terrorists came from, to clean the houses from weapons and rifles," Ganz said.
He added that Israel must retain control throughout Judea and Samaria in order to prevent an attack similar to the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023.
"We have to say to the entire world: We are here for the state. We have to hold all the areas of Judea and Samaria and protect the State of Israel from a second October 7."
Ganz also called on international leaders to visit the region before taking positions on the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"World leaders must come and see that reality before deciding our future," he said. "A Palestinian state here would put Jerusalem and central Israel in danger."
"Stop encouraging terror in the name of peace," Ganz concluded.