The father of the terrorist who killed IDF soldier Ron Kukia said on Thursday his son committed a deplorable act, and he wants to go to Kukia’s family and apologize, Channel 12 reported.
“In the name of the Abu Judeh family, I ask for forgiveness,” Odeh Abu Judeh, the father of Khaled Abu Judeh, who murdered Kukia in Arad in 2017, said at a press conference. “We condemn all physical and verbal violence. We ask forgiveness from the Kukia family.”
“We are loyal to the state. We have cousins who died for the state,” he said. “This was a deplorable act by a deplorable person. We didn’t believe that from our house came a person who killed a soldier. A whole sector did not do this. The state blames all of us, and we have been loyal since its founding.”
Nahal Brigade soldier Sgt. Ron Yitzhak Kukia, 19, was stabbed in the throat while waiting for a bus outside an Arad shopping mall. His Tavor assault rifle was taken by the attackers.
The two suspected terrorists, Arab citizens of Israel, were arrested the day after the attack. Khaled Abu Judeh and Zawin Abu Judeh were residents of an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev. While they had no criminal records, the investigation revealed that Khaled Abu Judeh identified with various terrorist organizations and that he harbored extremist beliefs.
Khaled Abu Judeh admitted to carrying out the attack “out of a desire to do something on behalf of the Palestinians and as revenge for IDF activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said.
Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.