US Envoy Slams Palestinians for Condemning Condolence Call to Victim, But Not the Terrorist

“The PA chose not to condemn the heinous murder of Yotam Ovadia (not surprising), but instead condemned US Ambassador to Israel for conveying POTUS’s condolences..Nothing more to say”!” Greenblatt charged.

By: United with Israel Staff

Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump’s special Mideast envoy, assailed the Palestinian leadership for criticizing US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman for consoling the widow of a terror victim while failing to condemn the terrorist who made her a widow.

Friedman on Monday paid a condolence visit to Tal Ovadia, the widow of Yotam Ovadia, a 31-year-old father of two young boys, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist near his home in Adam last Thursday.

“Shocked to hear of the brutal terror attack in Adam that left 31-year-old Yotam Ovadia dead and two others injured. My heartfelt prayers for all the families. All life is sacred, but premeditated murder cries out for condemnation. Not hearing it from Palestinian leadership,” Friedman tweeted after the attack.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday issued a statement blasting Friedman “with the strongest words” for his “provocative visits” to “settlements in the occupied West Bank.”

Friedman fired back on Twitter, writing that “yesterday I visited a young widow grieving the death of her husband, murdered last week by a Palestinian terrorist. I was heartbroken by her tears and those of her in-laws who had lost their only son.”

“Today, the PA Foreign Ministry condemned my visit. Nothing more to say,” he wrote.

Greenblatt defend his colleague’s actions on Twitter, writing that “The PA chose not to condemn the heinous murder of Yotam Ovadia (not surprising), but instead condemned US Ambassador to Israel for conveying POTUS’s condolences and trying to bring comfort to Yotam’s widow, orphans & parents whose only son was murdered in cold blood by a terrorist.”

“Amb. Friedman’s visit was not about politics. As my dear friend & colleague [Friedman] said ‘Nothing more to say”!” Greenblatt added.

Not only has the Palestinian Authority not condemned that attack, it is celebrating the terrorist Muhammad Tareq Dar Yusuf as a “martyr.”

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), a watchdog that monitors Palestinian incitement to terrorism, noted that by declaring the murderer a “martyr,” the PA is declaring that he did an exemplary act, according to Islam, for which he will be rewarded in the afterlife by Allah.

In addition, the PA will reward the terrorists’ family financially, as it does for all families of so-called “martyrs,” with a one-time grant of NIS 6,000  ($1,643) and a permanent monthly allowance of NIS 1,400 ($383), which could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars over time.