Kafr Qasem Mayor Slammed for Attending Funeral of Terrorist

The mayor of Kafr Qasem on Sunday defended his participation in the funeral of a local man who police said was shot dead while carrying out a terror attack, telling media he attended the burial in order to ensure the event passed off peacefully.

Mayor Adel Badir also continued to question whether the incident was indeed a terror attack, saying that further investigation was required to determine what had happened.

Badir was criticized for his attendance at the funeral of Naim Badir, whose body was handed to his family by Israel in exchange for a promise to hold a small, quiet funeral with no more than 50 people.

Badir was shot dead on Friday by Israel Police in an attack involving an attempted shooting and then a car-ramming of officers in Kafr Qasem.

There was no word on a familial connection between the mayor and the suspected terrorist.

Shas leader MK Rabbi Aryeh Deri, who is set to become Interior Minister in the emerging government, slammed the mayor for showing up at the funeral.

“Seeing is not believing!” Rabbi Deri wrote. “Instead of condemning the terror attack carried out in his city and inquiring after the welfare of those who were injured, a mayor … chose to participate in the funeral of a loathsome terrorist who cruelly ran over and shot at an officer and two policemen operating in the city. A disgrace.”

Badir told Kan News that he attended the funeral after coordinating with police and security officials, with the intention of maintaining public order. He insisted he was not there to show support for the alleged act of terror.

Badir said he trusted the police to find out what had motivated Naim Badir and suggested possible explanations such as the suspect’s difficult childhood or recent personal troubles.

Badir’s family initially strongly denied the incident was an attack, accusing police of “murdering our son in cold blood.”