JERUSALEM – Two Palestinian men used a gun and butcher knives to attack people in a synagogue Tuesday morning, leaving 5 people dead, including 3 Americans.
President Obama strongly condemned the terrorist attack on worshipers at the synagogue in Jerusalem. U.S. citizens Aryeh Kupinsky, Cary William Levine, and Mosheh Twersky, were killed and several more were injured.
“There is and can be no justification for such attacks against innocent civilians,” the President said. “The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the victims and families of all those who were killed and injured in this horrific attack and in other recent violence. At this sensitive moment in Jerusalem, it is all the more important for Israeli and Palestinian leaders and ordinary citizens to work cooperatively together to lower tensions, reject violence, and seek a path forward towards peace.”
Senator Ted Cruz was more colorful in his description of the incident.
“Evil was unleashed in Jerusalem today, as two Palestinian terrorists armed with handguns, knives and hatchets attacked a morning prayer service. They worked at close range, shooting into the crowd and hacking at heads and arms of worshippers with their axes while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’ Witnesses reported that the blood of the victims ‘flowed like water.’ Some dozen people, including two policemen, were wounded in the onslaught before the terrorists were neutralized, and four men lay dead. Prayer shawls and tefilin have become shrouds for the devout, whose only crime was the peaceful practice of their Jewish faith.
“Israel mourns for Rabbi Moshe Twersky. For Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg. For Rabbi Kalman Levine. For Rabbi Aryeh Kupinsky. But Israel does not mourn alone, for all four were not only Israeli—Rabbi Avraham Goldberg was a dual Israeli-UK citizen while Rabbis Moshe Twersky, Kalman Levine and Aryeh Kupinsky were all dual Israeli-US citizens.
“These men were not victims of a senseless tragedy, they were deliberately targeted in carefully-planned attack. The Palestinian terrorists, incubated in a culture of violence and hate, were intent on killing Jews and they singled out men of deep religious faith who would not be armed to ensure maximum casualties. Their despicable actions have been hailed as ‘heroic’ by Palestinian groups such as Hamas and Fatah that are actively inciting these attacks.
“All our friends in Israel have our sympathies in the aftermath of this atrocity, but they need more than that. They need an unequivocal statement of solidarity, a recognition that America is not a disinterested bystander in this battle. Our citizens are dying too, targeted by these same vicious murderers, and our good friend and ally should have not only our prayers but also our unequivocal support as the Israeli people continue the fight against the terrorists who have declared war on both our nations.”
