Grieving Dad Slams Politician’s Vile 'Baby Killing' Claim in Heartbreaking Post

Itzik Pass, the grieving father of 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass, who was brutally murdered by a Palestinian sniper in Hebron 23 years ago, responded with righteous indignation to inflammatory comments by Israeli politician Yair Golan, as reported by The Yeshiva World.

Golan, leader of the Democrats Party, sparked outrage by claiming on Kan Reshet Bet radio that Israel “kills babies as a hobby” in Gaza, prompting Pass to post two heart-wrenching photos, one of his infant daughter Shalhevet, and another of himself cradling her lifeless body before her funeral. Pass wrote, “The identifier of processes and hobbies is invited to me for a short historical lesson on the truth behind killing babies as a hobby,” directly challenging Golan’s remarks with the painful reality of his personal loss.

The horrific attack occurred on March 26, 2001, during the Second Intifada, in Hebron’s Avraham Avinu neighborhood. Shalhevet was lying in her stroller near her home when a Palestinian sniper, later identified as Tanzim member Mahmud Amru, deliberately aimed and fired, killing her instantly with a bullet through her head. Her mother, Oriya, grabbed her after the gunfire but found her already dead. Minutes later, the sniper fired again, striking Itzik Pass, who was pushing the stroller, with two bullets that left him seriously wounded.

An Israeli investigation confirmed the sniper’s intentional targeting of the infant, a chilling act that shocked the nation. Amru was arrested by the Shin Bet in 2002 and sentenced to three life terms in 2004.

The murder, one of the most egregious acts of the Second Intifada, became a potent symbol of Palestinian terrorism’s cruelty, as noted by The New York Times. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon condemned the attack, holding the Palestinian Authority responsible. The Pass family and Hebron’s Jewish community demanded IDF reoccupation of the Abu Sneineh neighborhood, from where the shots were fired.

Pass’s response to Golan accents the enduring pain of losing his daughter and the outrage felt by many Israelis over Golan’s remarks, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “vile antisemitic blood libels.” Pass’s courage in confronting such rhetoric highlights the personal toll of terrorism and the resilience of those who endure its consequences.