Honenu demands apprehension of suspects in ambush of hiking bar mitzva boys

Monday, December 4, 2017, 19:47 Honenu has leveled harsh criticism at the army for its reaction to the ambush by Arabs from Qusra of bar mitzva boys on a November 30 hiking trip in the Shomron. As of Tuesday, December 5 not one suspect had been apprehended.
The boys’ parents wrote a sharply worded letter to the Police Commissioner and the GOC of the Central Command stating that, “We are shocked by the handling of the terrorists at the site [of the ambush] and even more shocked by the fact that to the best of our knowledge not one terrorist has been detained, the stolen property has not been returned and the feeling that we have been abandoned in all that we have been through continues.
“There is no doubt that conducting a determined investigation and bringing the terrorists to trial will assist the recovery of our children and return to them a feeling of security and faith in the justice system. On the other hand, a situation in which the terrorists are walking free without being brought to justice, deepens the injury and the trauma.”
In their letter, the parents also protest the reaction of the police to the fathers who served as a physical shield protecting the children. “My son was returned to me as a gift,” said one of the mothers. “I do not understand why the fathers are being investigated by the police. For what? Because they shielded [the boys] with their bodies and saved my son and his friends? Without them I would be sitting shiva now. They protected my son with their bodies. They got the rocks and the contempt. Someone here has gone crazy.”
Last week Honenu’s crime and terror victims department filed an urgent request with the Yehuda and Shomron District Police Commander, demanding that a special investigative team be formed to arrest the rioting Arabs who ambushed the boys.
Honenu Attorney Adi Kedar leveled harsh criticism at the decision by the police to investigate the fathers: “The decision by the Israeli Police to investigate the victims of an attempted murder in the region of [the community of] Migdalim is outrageous. The boys were saved only thanks to the quick-wittedness of civilians who rescued them from certain death.
“Instead of pursuing, apprehending and detaining the terrorists who carried out this horrific act, the security system weakens the strength of the Israeli people. Terrorists who are watching from the side are likely to be emboldened and to continue to injure, G-d forbid, Israeli citizens. We call on the army and the police to do their jobs and arrest the rioters, to immediately take care of the matter, and to invest maximum effort and energy to apprehending the terrorists. Bringing them to justice is critical for safety and a feeling of security for the Israeli public in general and for the residents of Yehuda and Shomron in particular.”
The case against the fathers was closed in March 2018