Young Israel Movement Reaction to the Shooting at Bani Naim Junction

National Council of Young Israel President Shlomo Z. Mostofsky made the following statement today following the deadly shooting of four Israeli citizens, including a pregnant woman, near the city of Hebron:

"The National Council of Young Israel and the International Young Israel Movement mourns the tragic loss of the four innocent Israelis who became the latest victims of a tragic terrorist attack directed at the Jewish State.

This senseless shooting, which comes on the eve of the start of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, is a stark and painful reminder that the PA is incapable of being a true partner in peace.  While the Palestinian leadership is telling the United States and the world what it believes they want to hear, its citizens are simultaneously carrying out carefully planned and premeditated acts of terror against innocent men, women, and children.

Today's murder of an Israeli family at the Bani Naim junction just south of the holy city of Hebron comes as the Israeli leadership is being pressured to make concessions for the sake of peace, which compromises its security and puts its citizenry at risk.  We hope and pray that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' trip to Washington results in a clear and compelling call for a swift end to the violence and the cessation of the brutal acts of terror that are being perpetrated against the people of Israel.

May the Omnipresent comfort the families of the victims among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."