No Condemnations of Ofra Attack Heard From Palestinians

“We are all praying for the well-being of the wounded from last night’s terrorist attack in Ofra. We support the doctors who are fighting for the baby’s life. Abhorrent terrorists tried to murder a mother and the baby in her womb. This is monstrous,” said Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a statement on Monday.

Then, referring to Hamas and others, he added, “There are, of course, cries of joy; I think it is too much to expect a condemnation from the Palestinian Authority. They only contribute to incitement here. Our security forces – the ISA [Shin Bet] and the IDF – are pursuing the murderers. They will capture them. We will deal with them to the fullest extent of the law and settle accounts with them.”

A PA official bristled at the comment, telling The Jerusalem Post that “the Palestinian Authority can’t be held responsible for something that takes place in an area where it has no security control.”

The official would not say, though, whether PA security forces were taking part in the Israeli manhunt for the terrorists who perpetrated the shooting near Ofra, wounding seven, including an expectant mother.

As of Monday night, the PA had still issued no condemnation of the attack, nor any other statement on it.

On the contrary, the PA Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday condemning “settlers” and the IDF for their “crimes” against Palestinians.

It complained about numerous “incursions” in Yehudah and Shomron by Israeli civilians under IDF escort, in the form of prayer visits to Har HaBayis, Kever Yosef in Shechem and Me’aras Hamachpelah in Chevron.

Meanwhile, in the wake of Sunday night’s shooting, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman castigated the United Nations for failing to pass a resolution condemning Hamas, which praised the terrorists.

“Another vile act of Palestinian terrorism last night included the shooting of a pregnant woman. Hamas calls the shooters ‘heroic’ – yes, the same Hamas that the U.N. could not resolve to condemn last week. The U.S. stands with Israel against terrorists even if others won’t,” Friedman wrote on Twitter on Monday.

In the same vein, Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, wrote in a tweet addressed to the U.N.: “Hamas praises yet another terror attack. You had the ability to help fight against terror. Is this what the U.N. wants its legacy to be?”

On Thursday night, at a Chanukah reception at the U.N. hosted by the Israeli delegation after the vote on the Hamas resolution, Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said, “The president called and he said, ‘Nikki, what happened?’ And I told him, and he goes, ‘Who do we need to get upset at? Who do you want me to yell at? Who do we take their money away?’”

Haley then quipped to those at the reception, “I’m not gonna tell you what I told him.”