Fogel family identified as victims of Itamar terror attack
Udi, 36, his wife Ruth, 35, and their children Yoav, 11, Elad, 4 and Hadas, 3 months were all stabbed to death. Family survived by 3 additional children; Netanyahu calls grandfather Haim Fogel with condolences.
By BEN HARTMAN, JPOST.COM STAFF
The funeral for the five members of the Fogel family, killed in a terror attack in the West Bank settlement of Itamar on Friday night was scheduled to take place in Jerusalem on Sunday.The members of the family have been identified as Udi, 36, his wife Ruth, 35, and their children Yoav, 11, Elad, 4 and Hadas, 3 months. The family is survived by their three additional children.RELATED:US condemns killing of five Israelis in Itamar attackNetanyahu blames Palestinian incitement for Itamar attackAriel mayor: Delegitimization of settlements caused attackThe children's grandfather, Haim Fogel, explained what happened on the night of the attack:"We got the bad news on the terror attack at 3 in the morning from the local Naveh Tzuf emergency team, led by Rabbi Yonatan Balas. He took us to Udi's house in Itamar, we saw the horrible murder scene."The last phone call was yesterday, on Sabbath eve as usual. Udi spoke with me and with Tzila my wife as well as with Matan and Michal, his brother and sister. Just last week after the Sabbath we were at their place in Itamar and we ate in celebration of the new month Adar.Israel Radio reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu telephoned Haim Fogel with is condolences on the tragedy. Netanyahu on Saturday called on the international community and the Palestinian Authority to harshly condemn Friday's terror attack in Itamar, which he referred to as "child murder."Netanyahu stated that the Palestinian Authority's statements about the incident thus far were not harsh enough for such a brazen attack in which five members of the same family were stabbed to death in their beds and three orphans were left behind. "That's not the way you condemn terror, that's not the way you fight terror," Netanyahu said in a televised press conference.The prime minister also called on countries of the world "that run to the UN to condemn planned Israeli building," to rush to condemn the Itamar terror attack in the same manner.
Netanyahu stated that he was "deeply shocked" as he imagined all Israeli citizens were by the "murder of a young family."He called on the Palestinian Authority to stop incitement to terror in its schools, mosques and media.The prime minister called on the citizens of Israel to act with restraint and allow the IDF to find and punish the perpetrators of the attack. Netanyahu said that he stands behind the residents of Judea and Samaria. "We will not allow terror to determine the settlement map," he said.