MK Rabbi Menachem Eliezer Moses presented this past Monday in the Knesset plenum a no-confidence bill on behalf of the United Torah Jewry party, sharply condemning the murder of an Arab youth from Shuafat by Jewish youths. He also attacked the government for its slackness and the unseemly involvements of the prime minister and foreign minister in petty political intrigues.
"We are witness to a wave of despicable murders which began with the kidnapping and murder of the three boys, Gil-Ad, Naftali and Eyal. This was followed by the murder of the Arab boy, Muhamad Abu Khadir from Shuafat. For thousands of years, we Jews have been distinguished from our enemies by the fact that we don't violate the commandment of not murdering. Nor do we kidnap or call city squares and streets after lowly murderers. This is not our way. Judaism sanctifies life; it is a supreme value by us. In Pirkei Avos it states: "Beloved is man who was created in [His] image." Every human being, be he Jew or Arab, Christian or Moslem!
"The ones who murdered Muhamad Abu Khadir removed themselves from the body of Jewry by their act. Jews are incapable of committing such an abominable deed. There is no word to describe the repugnance and revulsion at such a deed. It is unforgivable, and those who perpetrated it must be made to pay the heaviest price for that crime."
Rabbi Moses told the story of the Sanzer Rebbe who lost his wife and eleven children in the Holocaust, and when asked how he was capable of continuing to pray "You chose us," he replied, "On the contrary, when I see to what lowly murderous acts other nations are capable of stooping, I declare again and again, `You have chosen us.' For a member of the Jewish people is unable to commit such horrible acts of murder."
Rabbi Moses concluded, "We condemn this act with all the vigor at our command. It is my hope that the police execute the law against all those involved in this murder in the most severe and extreme manner."
He defined the conduct of the prime minister and foreign minister in the days leading up to the recent hostilities as "the behavior of kindergarten children. Instead of dealing with suppressing terror and brutality throughout the country, they are busy fighting one another. The prime minister repeatedly declares his commitment about the containment of Hamas and the restoration of security, but it is mere idle talk. Instead of going out to vacation, the children in the south go into the shelters. Our government is incapable of guaranteeing personal security to its citizens and does not deserve our confidence."
