NEW YORK – World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder expressed deep concern Thursday after two people were stabbed to death at a Tel Aviv synagogue and three others were killed in a drive-by shooting in Gush Etzion. He urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to crack down on the incitement that has sparked the recent wave of terror and to condemn the attacks immediately.
“Acts of terror against Israeli Jews have become an almost daily news item,” Lauder said. “As in Paris, the world must show that it will not tolerate such violence and hatred. I urge Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to curb the incitement and clearly condemn this terror.”
“Each and every victim is a brother or a sister, a father or a mother, an innocent human being whose life has been snuffed out in the name of hostile ideology and anger,” Lauder added. “We must not allow this wave of terror to continue. We must put an end to this unnecessary loss of life.”
Two Israelis were killed in the Tel Aviv attack on Thursday, when a Palestinian assailant entered a synagogue and stabbed the victims during afternoon prayers. An Israeli, a Palestinian and an American student died in Gush Etzion hours later, when a Palestinian motorist opened fire on a line of cars before ramming his own vehicle into another car.
The two attacks shattered nearly a week of calm in Israel. Last Friday, Rabbi Ya’akov Litman and his 18-year-old son Netanel were killed in a shooting near the West Bank settlement of Otniel, en route to a pre-wedding celebration for Litman’s daughter.
