SWC Condemns the Murder of Four Israelis Shot to Death by Palestinian Terrorists in a Restaurant and Gas Station

June 20, 2023

The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemns the murderous shooting attack that killed four Israelis and wounded four more at a gas station outside of the West Bank settlement of Eli on Tuesday afternoon. 

The terrorists arrived by car and first opened fire at the nearby Hummus Eliyahu restaurant before targeting the gas station. One of the gunmen was shot dead at the scene and Shin Bet, IDF and Border Police forces shot and killed the second terrorist after locating him and attempting to arrest him a short time later.

“Why would the Palestinians diminish their terrorist attacks when you have high level diplomats at the United Nations demonizing Israel, questioning her legitimacy, casting blame on the victims instead of the victimizers. In the meantime, some countries now give lip service about pay-to-slay by doing nothing to hold them accountable and until there’s accountability for terrorism, other than the end of the barrel of a gun of an Israeli soldier, there isn’t going to be any peace. As long as the world continues to fund UN agencies like UNRWA whose teachers in the schools encourage children to venerate terrorists who murder innocent civilians, there is no hope for peace,” stated SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda, Rabbi Abraham Cooper.

"Israelis deserve to also live in peace and Israel has to do whatever it need to do to secure the safety and well-being of its citizens – Jews, Christians and Muslims – so the next time there is another push on condemnation of Israel for defending herself, maybe people will think back to the four innocents that were just gunned down because they happened to be Jewish citizens of Israel," concluded Cooper.

For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com or Shawn Rodgers at srodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).