Mother-In-Law of Pregnant Stab Victim: Israel Should ‘Embrace’ Palestinians

TEL AVIV – The mother-in-law of a pregnant woman stabbed and wounded by a teenage Palestinian terrorist on Monday said hours after the attack that Israel was “mishandling” relations with the Palestinians.  The stabbing victim’s father-in-law was the late Rabbi Menachem Froman, who was known for promoting Israeli-Palestinian ties.

Froman’s widow, Hadassah, said her daughter-in-law Michal, who is about halfway through her pregnancy, was “in pain” and “traumatized,” after being stabbed in the shoulder and lung, but was not in life-threatening danger. The fetus, she said, “is absolutely fine, thank God; it’s a big miracle.”

Michal said in an interview on Tuesday that she saw her attacker wandering around the settlement and initially thought he was a construction worker. She added later, “He had the look of someone who wanted to die.”

Michal’s father-in-law Menachem, who passed away in 2013, was famous for having close ties with officials from the upper echelons of both the PA and Hamas – despite being an Orthodox settler rabbi.

Hadassah Froman continues her husband’s work by fostering ties with Palestinians.  In an interview with Army Radio following the attack on Michal, Hadassah said it was in Israel’s interest to “embrace” Palestinians who want to live in peace. “My life’s work is near-daily contact with the Palestinian public,” she said.

Hadassah said that Israel should not delay returning the bodies of Palestinian terrorists for burial, since delays only serve to increase hostility. She also asserted that demolishing the homes of terrorists’ families was not an effective deterrent. She did, however, say that the families of terrorists who themselves supported terrorism should be deported to Gaza.

She added that it was up to Israel to distinguish between Palestinians who support terror versus those who want coexistence, something she said “is difficult, but not impossible.”