Israel will not yield to subhumans: PM

Jewish state honors war dead on Memorial Day

JERUSALEM, April 15, (AFP): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel would not give in to “subhuman” terrorists, as the Jewish state honoured its slain soldiers and civilians killed in militant attacks.

Netanyahu, at a ceremony at the Mount Herzl national cemetery, cited the case of Israeli toddler Adele Biton, still in critical condition after being hurt in a stone-throwing attack on her mother’s car in the West Bank a month ago.

“As if anyone needed it we got a reminder that a stone is a lethal weapon,” he said.

“The terror of stones thrown in an ambush joins the terror of petrol bombs, the terror of knives, the terror of shots and missiles, explosive devices, car bombs and suicide attacks,” Netanyahu said.

“But we shall not retreat, not surrender, not give in... Terror is not a blow from above, it is the work of humans, or subhumans. We shall defeat them.”

In a Memorial Day ceremony at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said that peace was nowhere to be seen on Israel’s horizon.

“Terrorist attacks, the firing of rockets at civilian populations and delegitimisation campaigns are the challenges which stand before us in the years to come, they will accompany us for the foreseeable future and they will force us to respond with a firm hand,” Yaalon said, adding a warning on Iran.