Joint List MK Causes Uproar Offering ‘Condolences’ to ‘Occupation Victims’

The sole Jewish MK in the Joint Arab List party, MK Ofer Cassif, on Wednesday morning came under fire in the Knesset after calling the death of Aryeh Shechopek, Hy”d, who was killed in the bombings in Yerushalayim earlier in the day, a “victim of the occupation.”

Cassif offered his “condolences” to all victims of the “Israeli occupation – Jews and Arabs alike,” following the double bombing in Yerushalayim.

The statement caused an uproar in the Knesset, as many MKs walked out on the speech.

Minister Meir Cohen responded to Cassif by saying: “The boy who was murdered today did not throw stones – he was a Jewish boy from Yerushalayim who was waiting for his ride, and terrorists planted a bomb and killed him. Your comparison is outrageous. There are times when silence is called for. The child’s blood is still crying out from the ground and there are others who are wounded and their lives are in danger just because they went to work, and you come up here and deliver outrageous words.”

MK Simcha Rothman responded: “Ofer Cassif is comparing the victim of today’s attack, who was on his way to yeshivah, and a Palestinian who was present at the riots near Shechem and was killed by IDF soldiers?”

Rothman also said: “Whoever compares our soldiers to the vile terrorists, and the murdered Jews to our enemies and those who seek our harm, is in the Knesset because of the trampling of the Basic Law: The Knesset by the judges of the High Court.”

United Torah Judaism MK Rabbi Yitzchak Goldknopf responded: “I condemn the words of MK Ofer Cassif, who compared the murdered yeshivah bachur, Hy”d, to terrorists who in his eyes are also victims of the occupation. Even if you have a distorted opinion, try to avoid expressing it on such a day. It’s a difficult day, when a family in Yerushalayim is burying their young son who was murdered for no wrongdoing. Your statement reveals an imperviousness to Jewish suffering.”