Thousands At Funeral

Jerusalem - Thousands of Israelis turned out at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem on Sunday for the funerals of five members of the same family killed Friday night in a brutal attack in their home at the West Bank settlement of Itamar.

Speakers at the service spoke of the tragedy that took place and how it cannot be allowed to break the spirit and determination of the Jewish people to settle and live on the land of Israel.

Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger told mourners that “the murderers did succeed, but only in uniting us.” “No one can remain apathetic” after this event, he said.

Metzger cried out that Itamar needs to become a city that is a mother of Israel in response to this event. “Another neighborhood, that’s the answer. More building, that’s the answer,” he said.

The chief rabbi repeated the phrase, “In Yehuda, we will always settle and Jerusalem from generation to generation.”

Vice Premier Moshe “Bugi” Ya’alon blamed the Palestinian Authority and its “education of violence” as the cause of the murderous terrorism that struck on Friday. He added that “our neighbors’ education denies our right to the land [of Israel],” teaching their children that “from the Jordan [River] to the sea, Jews have no rights [to live].”

Ya’alon predicted that the murderers of the Fogal family will have city squares named after them and be honored by PA. In light of this, he said that any agreement signed with the Palestinians isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.

Saying that “we need to continue what our fathers did, to keep building,” the vice premier said that now is not the time to dwell on security and new security packages. “We have never given up on our right to this land,” he said. “Anyone who gives up this right won’t have security either.”

As revenge for the death of Udi, Ruth, Elad, Yoav and Hadas Fogel, “we will live, we will continue to build and to plant, we will continue to grip onto the land of Israel: in Itamar, in Beit Hagai, in Hebron and in Jerusalem, everywhere and any time,” Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Sunday, speaking at the funeral of the Fogel family in Givat Shaul.

“More construction, more life, more hanging onto the land. This is our answer to the murderers, so that they know they haven’t gotten the better of us. We will awaken our right to build anywhere and at anytime. Construction in Israel is not a retaliation or revenge for the victim,” Rivlin said.

“You were a moved and a symbol of the allegiance of the Zionist, the Jew, the Israeli. Despite all the difficulties, you believed and you overcame the hardships.”

Five members of the Fogel family were killed in a terror attack in the West Bank settlement of Itamar on Friday night. Udi, 36, his wife Ruth, 35, and their children Yoav, 11, Elad, 4 and Hadas, 3 months were stabbed to death by a terrorist who infiltrated the settlement. The family is survived by their three additional children.