Youssef Ottman
Photo: Amit Shabi
Bereaved father blasts return of terrorists' bodies
Issam Ottman, whose son Youssef was killed by a terrorist last year in a shooting attack, says return of his murderer 'tramples on our honor.'
A father whose son was murdered in a terror attack
last September in Har Hadar lashed out against the Israeli government Sunday for its decision to return to the Palestinian Authority Friday the bodies of two terrorists, one of whom carried out a deadly attack against Israeli civilians and security personnel.
According to Ottman, he received word that his son’s killer—who also shot dead 25-year-old Or Arish and 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Solomon Gavriya—had been returned only after the handover.
“They secretly returned the body before Shabbat began in a hush hush manner, without anyone knowing. It’s disgraceful,” said Issam Ottman, whose son Youssef was among the three people killed in a shooting attack carried out by Nimer Jamal of Beit Surik.
The body of Hamza Zamareh from Halhul, who carried out an attempted stabbing attacking in Gush Etzion's Karmei Tzur last week, was also returned.
Or Arish (L) Staff Sergeant Solomon Gavriya (C) and Youssef Ottman (R)
According to Ottman, he received word that his son’s killer—who also shot dead 25-year-old Or Arish and 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Solomon Gavriya—had been returned only after the handover.
“No one informed me when it was happening. There is a Cabinet decision, so why is everything done against it? Someone wanted to hide something and it seems someone is scared of something. It’s a shame it was done this way,” he complained.
The bereaved father went on to say that the act “tramples on our honor. I suggest to whoever took this decision to think again about the bereaved families in Israel. You don’t do things like this. We must not degrade the blood of our children. We give gifts and they seem to go for nothing.”
Ottman also commented on the struggle being waged by the Goldin family who have been pressuring the government into securing the release of their son’s body, Hadar, who was killed in Operation Protective Edge and whose remains have been held by Hamas ever since.
“There are two bodies of soldiers in Gaza,” he said, also in reference to Oron Shaul who suffered the same fate as Hadar.
“Did we get them back in return? No. We got nothing. What we get is maybe another rocket,” he vented.
Nimer Jamal
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman also voiced his disagreement with the decision to return the bodies, calling it "wrong."
“The decision is a miserable one, but we are bound by the Supreme Court rulings. We didn’t have a choice, but is that right? No. Am I ok with that? To put it mildly, no,” Lieberman said in a n interview with Ynet.
When asked whether the government would take the opportunity given by the High Court of Justice (HCJ) to pass legislation on the matter within six months, Lieberman said that the issue was more complex.
“It isn’t as if they gave us an option to legislate. There is a very difficult clause there. We are still trying to think, to appeal it,” he explained.
Hadar Goldin (L) and Oron Shaul
“This kind of legislation demands an amendment to the 'bypass clause' (which allows the Knesset to pass a law that is contradicted by another law, for a limited time, as long as it is passed by a majority of Knesset members—ed), and from my point of view this is also a good solution, but in any event we are currently in the midst of the staff work on this matter and are deciding what to do.”
Last December, the HCJ ruled that the state cannot hold indefinitely the bodies of terrorists, forcing the government to pass a law which will enable the state to legally hold bodies already in its possession—or else return them to their families.
Following the release of the bodies, the Goldin family accused the government of exhibiting "security weakness and betrayal of IDF soldiers."
