Media Releases

The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council expressed its revulsion and horror at the terrorist attack in which seven people were murdered and several others wounded outside a synagogue in Jerusalem.

AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein said, “This barbaric attack on civilians going about their worship on the holiest day of the week, and on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, demonstrates yet again the inhumanity of the terrorism Israel must face on a daily basis. It gives stark context to the Israeli raids on terror dens in the West Bank, and the other measures Israel is sadly forced to constantly take to defend its population in its efforts to thwart such repulsive attacks.

“Such attacks don’t happen in a vacuum. They are the result of constant and unremitting incitement to hatred and violence by the Palestinian Authority, including constant messaging on all forms of media and generous lifelong pensions by the PA to terrorists and their families, together with outright blatant calls from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and their Iranian backers to kill Jews and eliminate Israel.

“We were also horrified to see the jubilant celebrations that broke out in several Palestinian cities in the West Bank and Gaza in response to this heinous taking of innocent life. The PA could have had a state living peacefully alongside Israel many times over had it simply accepted repeated generous offers, or negotiated in good faith at peace talks, but instead prefers to remain in a state of conflict and rejectionism, dishonestly blaming Israel for all of its people’s woes.

“We call on the international community to not only condemn this appalling attack, but also to condemn in the strongest terms the all-pervasive PA incitement, and work with Israel to end it.

“We send our condolences to the loved ones of those so tragically killed and our wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured,” Dr Rubenstein concluded.