'Dawabsheh family not entitled to compensation'
Despite promise by PM Netanyahu, deputy defense minister says law to compensate terror victims only applies to Israeli citizens.
The Dawabsheh family, which lost three of its members in an arson attack on their home in Duma, will not receive compensation from the State of Israel, despite promises made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In response to a parliamentary question from Joint Arab List MK Yousef Jabareen, Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan said on Wednesday that the Dawabsheh family was not entitled for compensations from the state because the law that ensures recompense to victims of terror attacks only applies to Israeli citizens.
The deputy defense minister said the Dawabsheh family can submit a request for compensation from a special committee in the Defense Ministry.
The Dawabsheh family home in the village of Duma was set on fire on July 31, 2015. Their 18-months-old son Ali was killed in the fire, while his four-year-old brother Ahmad and parents Saed and Reham suffered extensive burns and were fighting for their lives at the hospital.
Saed Dawabsheh succumbed to his wounds a little over a week later, while Reham Dawabsheh died about five weeks after the attack. Four-year-old Ahmad is the only member of the family to survive, after having suffered burns to 60 percent of his body.
The Shin Bet has placed several Jewish suspects under arrest on suspicion they are connected to the attack, but no indictments have been made yet.
