Erdogan Phones Palestinian Teen Tamimi

The international celebration of the release from jail of a Palestinian teenager who slapped an Israeli soldier culminated on Sunday with a personal phone call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The father of Ahed Tamimi, Bassem, told reporters about Erdoğan call, saying he congratulated her, but had no further details.

After finishing her eight-month sentence, the 17-year-old was also the honored guest of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who met with her and her family at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah.

Her release has been marked by the Palestinians with huge posters, and at the family home in Nabi Saleh there were hundreds of supporters and journalists gathered, according to reports.

The Tamimi coverage was a global media event, from Al Jazeera to The New York Times and the BBC celebrating her – another slap in the face to the IDF.

The soldier, who was verbally and physically abused by the teen outside her home in Nabi Saleh during a demonstration there, refrained from making any response. While his superior officers backed up his restraint, there were those who criticized him for passivity in the face of violent provocation.

Senior PA official Saeb Erekat used the opportunity on Sunday for a swipe at U.S. Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt, saying Tamimi’s imprisonment was “a chapter of shame to those who never condemn any of Israel’s crimes, like the so-called American peace envoys.”

On Thursday, Greenblatt castigated the Palestinian leaders for failing to condemn the terror in Adam that killed a Jewish resident, Hy”d, and wounded two others on Thursday night.