Press Release
NEW YORK/JERUSALEM – Leaders of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) on Tuesdayexpressed shock and outrage at yet another terrorist attack against Jews in Jerusalem. At least four people, including a rabbi, were killed and more than a dozen others wounded when two Arab terrorists burst into the synagogue during morning prayers and attacked worshipers with a gun, a meat cleaver and an ax. The two perpetrators were killed by police officers arriving at the scene. It was the deadliest terror attack in Jerusalem in many years.
WJC President Ronald Lauder said: “Our hearts go out to the victims of this heinous crime and to their families.” Lauder said the bloodbath in the Kehilat Bnei Torah Synagogue in Har Nof was “obviously the result of an orchestrated campaign by Palestinian groups whose sole aim is to incite to hatred and violence against Jews.”
He welcomed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ condemnation of the attack but said that in order to be credible Abbas had to stop the “vicious incitement against Israelis that is happening on his watch.”
“Instead of opposing the extremists in his own ranks, Mr. Abbas has been placating them. If he wants to retain any credibility he must show strong, unequivocal leadership now. Failure to do so would have catastrophic consequences and would probably put a stop to the peace process for many years to come. The next weeks will show if he is a credible Palestinian leader,” Lauder said.
The WJC president called it an outrage that houses of prayer were now being deliberately targeted by Palestinian terrorists. “Houses of worship anywhere in the world must be sacrosanct. Whoever attacks peaceful worshipers in a synagogue, a mosque or a church is nothing but a despicable criminal.”
About the World Jewish CongressThe World Jewish Congress (WJC) is the international organization representing Jewish communities in 100 countries to governments, parliaments and international organizations.
Media contact
Brussels: Michael Thaidigsmann
Director, Media relations, World Jewish Congress
Tel: +32 2 552 09 24
Cell: +32 495 510 917
Email: mthaidigsmann@wjcmail.org
