The Biden administration condemned the terrorist attack that killed three people and left several wounded in the central Israel city of Elad on Thursday night.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a news release that the horrific attack on innocent men and women was particularly heinous coming as Israel celebrated Yom Ha’aztmaut—Independence Day.
“Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those killed, and we wish those injured a speedy recovery,” he said. “We remain in close contact with our Israeli friends and partners and stand firmly with them in the face of this attack. May the memory of those who passed be a blessing.”
Earlier that day, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that he saw the news of the attack just as he was walking into the daily State Department briefing.
“If these reports are accurate, and there is certainly no reason to doubt them, it would be the latest in what has been a string of despicable terrorist attacks that have rocked Israel in recent weeks,” he stated. “We saw them in advance of this holy period—the confluence of Easter of Passover of Ramadan. We saw them in advance of the Negev Summit, and if this is what it appears to be, it is something that we would condemn in the strongest terms.
“Our commitment to our Israeli partners, Israel’s security, is ironclad,” said Price, “and we’ll provide any and all assistance that may be required in this case.”
