Liberman with Fuld family
Liberman with Fuld familyArutz Sheva

Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman on Tuesday comforted the family of Ari Fuld, who was murdered in a stabbing attack in Gush Etzion.

Tamar, Ari’s eldest daughter, asked the defense minister to impose the death penalty on the terrorist. She told Liberman that she was concerned that the terrorist was not killed at the scene of the attack and lamented that he was lightly wounded and was being treated in an Israeli hospital.

"If my father was alive, he would have acted to make it happen," she said to Liberman.

The defense minister explained to the bereaved family that "The state is not one unit, and what I and you understand, there are others who do not understand. We are making every effort."

Ari's mother asked Liberman to develop Givat Eitam in Efrat, and the defense minister made it clear that "I intend to continue to approve the construction of housing units in settlements in Judea and Samaria."

Earlier, President Reuven Rivlin paid a condolence visit to the family.

The president met Ari's family, his wife, his children, his parents and his brothers, and heard from them about the tremendous pain they face, Ari's great love for his family and his devotion to the people of Israel and the Land of Israel.

"Once, to raise the Israeli flag was a miracle, now it’s taken for granted, but every time such a despicable murder takes place, we understand that the struggle is not over. In the same breath we understand the strength, the power and the determination of the people. When it hits your home, it is painful, pain that is incomprehensible,” the president said.

Ari's father told the president that Ari, with his own hands, raised the flag, and the president replied that he was impressed by everything he heard and learned about Ari who proudly carried the flag through his deeds. Ari’s parents told the president about their immigration to Israel. "You are Zionists in the fullest sense. I was born here, it doesn’t take wisdom, but you made aliyah and did real Zionism," said the president.

"On the eve of Yom Kippur, I came to share in your unbearable sorrow and to tell you that the entire Jewish people is with you," said the president to the family. "How diverse your wonderful family is, what openness and education to love of the land. We are all together in this land despite disagreements sometimes, even between brothers in a family, and you are a shining example even when your pain is very severe on a personal level.”

The president turned to Miriam, Ari's wife, and said, "We all cried with you. Ari was a hero. A hero in his actions, in his conduct, in his awareness, in his devotion. Be strong. You did not voluntarily become a symbol of what is happening in this country and that we will never give up,” he said to the family.