Last May, I wrote about the tragic tale of Malki Roth, who was killed in 2001 in the Sbarro pizzeria bombing. A key accomplice to her murder, Ahlam Ahmad al Tamimi, received 16 life sentences for the attack, but she is a free woman today.
The Dec. 21 killing of Esther Horgan, a mother of six from Tel Menashe in northern Samaria, is an example of a similarly heart-wrenching and deplorable event.
At the age of 10, Horgan visited Israel for the first time. She said then, “This is where I have to live.” She made aliyah to Israel right after high school. She gave birth to four boys and two girls. Her youngest had his bar mitzvah a few months ago.
Her husband said of her, “She was simply an amazing person, full of joy in life, someone who loved everyone and everything.”
The lack of an outcry from Americans, let alone American Jews, is part of the problem. This situation must be rectified before anyone else is hurt.
Some in the American-Jewish community seem to think that they have no say on Israel-related matters, but this isn’t true. I have spent 36 years voicing concerns, recommendations and criticisms in this realm and have never felt that I didn’t have the right or privilege to do so.
On the contrary, Israeli leaders and its citizens alike welcomed my input. In fact, feedback from American Jewry often means more to Knesset members than feedback from native Israelis.
American Jews must make the outcry over Horgen’s murder, then, be loud and clear. “Jewish blood is not cheap” must echo far and wide, to prevent such terrorist incidents.
The Taylor Force Act, which makes the Palestinian Authority’s “pay for slay” policy more difficult to implement is one example of the creative and necessary anti-terrorism efforts that U.S. politicians and American Jewry joined together to legislate. Others should follow.
Dr. Joseph Frager is first vice president of the National Council of Young Israel.
