The 15-year-old Palestinian accused of killing an Israeli mother of six was incited to violence by Palestinian television programs, the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency, said Sunday. Incitement by Palestinian officials and media has frequently been blamed for the rise in violence against Jews in the last six months.
Morad Bader Abdullah Adais was arrested last week for the murder of Dafna Meir, a 38-year-old mother of six from Otniel, in the West Bank. Adais was captured last week after a massive manhunt, and has reportedly confessed to his crime. His father reportedly told Palestinian media outlets that he was “proud” of his son for committing the terror attack.
“On the day of the murder, while under the influence of the programs he had been exposed to on Palestinian television, the minor decided to commit a stabbing attack with the goal of murdering a Jew,” the Shin Bet said in a statement. The agency specifically cited “Palestinian television broadcasts which portrayed Israel as ‘killing young Palestinians.'”
“The difficult results of the attack indicate, once again, the severity of the threat of wild incitement against the State of Israel and the Jews on Palestinian media, which influences lone attackers to murder and carry out serious terror attacks,” the Shin Bet said.
The issue of Palestinian incitement to violence was brought up by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his meetings with diplomats at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. He reportedly showed a video to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, among other dignitaries, that documented calls to violence on Palestinian TV and by Palestinian political officials, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
A recent study by the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy indicates that Palestinian youth are increasingly being encouraged by top Palestinian political and religious officials to commit acts of violence, with some programming on the PA’s official television channel even featuring “children calling for the murder of Jews.” Roughly 37% of the attackers in the recent wave of violence have been under the age of 20.
29 people have been killed and 289 injured in terrorist attacks since September, according to the Magen David Adom emergency medical service.
[Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90]