Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Israeli Defense Chief Walks Back Comments on Knowing Identity of Duma Attackers

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon walked back comments he reportedly made saying that Israeli military authorities know who is responsible for the arson attack that killed a baby and his parents.

Security forces have a “general idea” of who perpetrated the attack on a home in the West Bank village of Duma, he told reporters hours after the remarks attributed to him were published in the Israeli daily Haaretz.

“We are unfortunately convinced that the attack in Duma was carried out by Jews,” he told reporters Thursday night, according to the Times of Israel.

He added: “It is one of the most extremist groups, whose goal was to set fire to the area and harm many lives; much more than the ‘price tag’ attacks we have come across.”

Haaretz reported earlier in the day that Yaalon told a closed meeting with some 20 young Likud party activists on Wednesday that Israeli military authorities know who is responsible for the attack, but they are not being indicted in order to protect the military’s intelligence sources.

Reham Dawabsheh, 27, died Sunday after suffering burns to some 90 percent of her body in the July 31 attack in the West Bank village of Duma. Her 18-month-old son, Ali, was killed in the attack and her husband, Saad, died more than a week later of his injuries. Another son, Ahmed, 4, was seriously burned but reportedly is recovering. He has not been told about the loss of his family.

Three known Jewish extremists were arrested and remain held in administrative detention in the wake of the attack, but no one has been charged in the incident.

A senior Israeli army officer said Tuesday in a briefing with reporters that there is no doubt that Jews firebombed the home.

“We know unequivocally that this is an act of Jewish terror,” the officer said. “All the rumor and speculation being spread on this issue lack any basis in reality.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.