Passover eve widow to 'JPost': Demolish terrorist's home, his whole family was party to attack
Ahead of High Court hearing on demolition of home belonging to terrorist accused of slaying police officer, state says West Bank terror has spiked.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBHaddas Mizrachi, wife of Baruch Mizrahi who was killed in terror attack(photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
Leading up to the High Court hearing on whether to demolish the family house of Ziad Awwad, Hadas Mizrahi, widow of murdered police officer Baruch Mizrahi told the Jerusalem Post that demolishing the house was "the minimum" that could be done.Mizrahi said that the entire family were "all partners in this terrible attack and were a family of terrorists," adding that "they all knew" about his attack plans and tried "to hide him" from the authorities.She continued "I never taught my kids to kill. He shot at my whole family and wounded me and physically and emotionally wounded my kids."Responding to sympathy for Awwad's family that they should not lose their house for his actions, she said "come see my house" and see the difficulties of raising all of her kids "without a father."Asked if demolishing the house could really deter future terrorists, she said "definitely," noting that the family had appealed to stop the demolition and that other terrorists hearing about this could be "scared and think twice" about the impact of their terror on their families.She also renewed her call for Awwad to face the death penalty.The High Court of Justice is scheduled this afternoon to hear a petition against the demolition of the rental apartment in the West Bank village of Idhana, in which Awwad has lived for the last two years.A military court indicted Awwad last week on murder charges for allegedly killing Baruch Mizrahi, 47, on Passover eve, as he drove with his family on Route 35 in the West Bank to a Seder in the Kiryat Arba settlement.Awwad allegedly stood on the side of Route 35 and shot at passing vehicles, including Mizrahi’s, immediately, killing him and lightly injuring one of this children. A child another vehicle was also lightly injured.The state on Sunday told the High Court that the demolition was necessary to quash a spike in terror in the West Bank in 2013 and 2014.
The state's brief on the issue said there were 1,414 terror attacks from the West Bank in 2013 and more than 500 already in 2014, a marked jump from earlier years.The state also recounted in specific detail eight terror attacks between March - June 2014, including three this month alone.More specifically, the state said there had been a spike in kidnapping attempts over the last year with 7 attempts in the third quarter of 2013, 8 attempts in the fourth quarter of 2013, 12 attempts in the first quarter of 2014 and 15 attempts in the last three months.The state noted that the indictment against Awwad describes much of the preparation for his attack, such as shooting practice, taking place in the house which the state wishes to demolish.Next, the state noted that Awwad's wife and son knew about his attack plans.The state also explained that in responding to the Awwad family's request to refrain from the demolition, it would only demolish the part of the structure belonging to Awwad's immediate family and would not demolish a second part of the structure where his extended family lives.The family's lawyers have said 13 family members occupy the full structure.Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
