Trump's Israel envoy accuses Palestinian leaders of praising Ariel terror attack
The suspect's mother on Tuesday called on her son to turn himself into the police
United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman accused the Palestinian leadership on Tuesday of praising a Palestinian teen who stabbed an Israeli to death in the West Bank on Monday.
"20 years ago I gave an ambulance to Har Bracha hoping it would be used to deliver healthy babies," Friedman wrote on Twitter, referring to the Israeli settlement where the murdered Israeli, Itamar Ben-Gal, lived.
"Instead, a man from Har Bracha was just murdered by a terrorist, leaving behind a wife and four children. Palestinian “leaders” have praised the killer. Praying for the Ben Gal family."
Donald Trump's hand-picked envoy did not identify the Palestinian leaders who praised the stabbing attack, which took place at the entrance to the large Israeli settlement of Ariel.
However the Islamist Hamas group, which runs the Gaza Strip, has lauded the attacker, Abed al-Karim Assi, a resident of Jaffa.
In a statement, Hamas said the attack was "proof that the al-Quds [Jerusalem] intifada [uprising] continues."
When a West Bank rabbi was killed in a Palestinian terror attack in January, Friedman also blasted Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA), who are in power in the West Bank.
"Hamas praises the killers and PA laws will provide them financial rewards. Look no further to why there is no peace," he wrote on Twitter, comments for which he was thanked by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Assi's mother on Tuesday called on her son to turn himself into the police, and said that she was horrified by his actions.
An unnamed associate of the suspect, quoted by Hadashot news, said that he never displayed any political opinions and was a professional colleague.