Name a civilized country where the father of a 16-year-old boy who invaded the home of a woman and stabbed her to death in front of her children tells the media he is proud of his son. Sadly, every man, woman and child with the most scant access to the news knows the answer to this painful question.
The father of the minor Murad Badr Abdullah Adeis who was picked up from his bed Monday night, on suspicion of murdering Dafna Meir, 38, the mother of six, in her home, while her children watched, told Palestinian media that he supports his son. “I am proud of him,” he said. He then complained that the IDF insisted on interrogating the family and even threatened to demolish their home, which is one of the measures Israel uses to retaliate for acts of terrorism and to discourage future acts.
Following a manhunt that took more than a day, IDF and Shabak forces arrested Adeis on suspicion of committing the murder in Otniel. He was captured by the Duvdevan (Heb: cherry) unit in his bed in Beit ‘Amra village, about two miles from Otniel, and is now being interrogated by the Shabak.
An emerging theory suggests that the Meir murder was in retaliation for the death of a distant relative of Adeis who was killed while trying to kill Jews.
It is also becoming clear that Adeis was not an Arab construction worker employed in the community, but managed to infiltrate it and carry out the murder. It wasn’t so hard to do: although Otniel is patrolled by security forces, it is not surrounded by a fence, which is the case in many Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.