PA blasts US ambassador for condolence visit to terror victim’s widow

The PA Foreign Ministry on Tuesday condemned David Friedman’s visit to the widow of Yotam Ovadia, who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist last week.

By: World Israel News Staff

After making a condolence visit on Monday to console the young widow of terror victim Yotam Ovadia, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman found himself on the receiving end of criticism from the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The PA called Friedman’s “recurring visits” to Jewish communities in Samaria a “provocation,” referring to officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration as its “Zionist staff,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

Reacting to the comments, Friedman tweeted on Tuesday, “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.”

Ovadia was murdered by an Arab terrorist last week who snuck into the Jewish community of Adam in Samaria, scaling the security fence and then stabbing Ovadia to death and wounding two other residents.

The terrorist, Mohammed Tarik Youssef, was shot and killed by a resident of the village, preventing further carnage. A little over one year earlier, another terrorist from Youssef’s town, Kobar, stabbed to death three members of the Salomon family in the Jewish community of Neve Tzuf.

Friedman visited Ovadia’s widow to participate in the “shiva” rite, which is a seven-day period of mourning observed in the Jewish tradition.

As the ambassador left his visit with Ovadia’s widow, he commented, “A young mother left alone to care for two small children, parents grieving for their only son. Words are insufficient to describe the evil and barbarity of the terrorist act.”