Netanyahu Vows ‘Heavy Hand’ After Synagogue Attack
Published at
Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images(JERUSALEM) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would “reply harshly” after police said Palestinian assailants wielding knives and axes killed three Israeli-Americans and another man during morning prayers at a Jerusalem synagogue.
A police officer who was critically injured later died of his wounds, pushing the death toll up to five.
Police said they shot and killed the two alleged attackers at the scene.
After the attack, Netanyahu ordered the demolition of the alleged attackers’ homes and arrested multiple members of each man’s family. He told reporters he would also demolish the homes of other Palestinians accused of recent attacks against Israeli citizens.
“We will respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of Jews who came to pray and were met by reprehensible murderers,” said Netanyahu.
Netanyahu earlier had denounced the attack as a “cruel murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by despicable murderers.”
Three American citizens were among the victims in the attack — Rabbi Moshe Twersky, 59, formerly of Boston, Rabbi Kalman Levine, 55, and Rabbi Aryeh Kupinsky, 43, Israeli officials said. The fourth dead victim, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, was a British national.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said it will lead the U.S. side of the investigation and was “working in close collaboration and cooperation with the appropriate Israeli allies and partners.”
“This is a tragedy for both nations — Israel, as well as the United States — and our hearts go out to the families, who obviously are undergoing enormous grief right now,” President Obama said, denouncing the attack as “horrific” before a meeting with his national security team.
The attack happened in Har Nof, an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood with a population of 20,000 residents, at around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, local time during morning prayers.
Thirty worshipers were taking part in the morning services when the two alleged assailants broke in wielding knives before using a gun to shoot at worshipers, according to the Israeli government. Many of those taken to the hospital had suffered blows to the head with an ax. Pictures of the scene showed the floor of the synagogue covered in blood, according to an Israeli Foreign Ministry official.
At least seven people were injured in the attack, Israel Police foreign press spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. The area near the synagogue was closed off, and the injured were transported to Jerusalem hospitals.
Hours after the attack, funerals for the four victims drew thousands of mourners, Rosenfeld tweeted.
Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio