Israel-Gaza War, Terrorism, Friendly Fire
PM Speaks With Father of Yuval Kastelman After Criticism
Criticized for being seemingly flippant about the mistaken killing of a civilian who killed terrorists, Netanyahu said that the incident needs to be properly investigated.
After causing a firestorm yesterday (Saturday) for his statement regarding the death of Yuval Kastelman, a citizen who was mistakenly killed by security forces, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced today that the incident needs to be examined.
Netanyahu said that “Yuval Doron Kastelman is a hero of Israel. Yuval saved many lives with a supreme act of heroism, but unfortunately a terrible tragedy happened there – the man who saved was himself killed. This matter has to be thoroughly investigated. I spoke today with Moshe, Yuval’s father. Salt of the earth, a Zionist family, a wonderful family. I and the whole nation feel pain with them for the death of a Hero of Israel.”
Netanyahu: “It could be that we will pay a price, that’s life”
Netanyahu’s clarification comes due to a statement he made at a press conference regarding Yuval’s death:
“What happened in the murderous attack in Jerusalem is that it was an armed civilian who led to this important result and a soldier fired [on him],” he noted.
He added that “The moment you hand out weapons in greater numbers, these cases can happen. We know that in the terror waves in the last decade, the presence of armed civilians saved the situation and prevented a great disaster. It happened dozens of times. Therefore, I think that in the current situation, we need to continue with this policy – I certainly support it. It could be we will pay a price for it, that’s life.”