Roths appeal to Biden as he travels to Israel
'We are bereaved parents as you are, sir. We have a burning sense that injustice in the wake of our child's murder is winning.'
The parents of slain teenager Malki Roth have asked for a meeting with United States President Joe Biden as he visits Israel this week, in order to ask him to press Jordan to extradite their daughter’s murderer for trial.
Malki, whose family made aliyah from Melbourne, was 15 when on August 9, 2001, a Palestinian bomber walked into a Jerusalem pizzeria and blew himself up, killing 15 people.
Ahlam Tamimi, who chose the target and guided the bomber there, was arrested by Israeli forces weeks later and sentenced to 16 life sentences. She was released by Israel in a 2011 prisoner swap with the Hamas terrorist group and sent to her native Jordan, where she lives freely and has been a familiar face in the media.
Since her release, she has expressed no remorse and has boasted that she was pleased with the high death toll. In a 2017 interview with the Associated Press, she said the Palestinians have a right to resist Israel by any means, including deadly attacks.
Frimet and Arnold Roth have been waging a campaign for her extradition to face trial in the United States ever since. Malki had American citizenship through Frimet.
“We are bereaved parents as you are, sir. We have a burning sense that injustice in the wake of our child’s murder is winning,” they wrote in a letter to Biden.
“Something is obviously terribly wrong with how the pursuit of America’s most wanted female fugitive is going.”
The US said on Monday it is still seeking Tamimi’s extradition, but declined to comment on the request for a meeting with Biden.
“The US government continues to seek her extradition and the government of Jordan’s assistance in bringing her to justice for her role in the heinous attack,” the US National Security Council said on Monday.
The United States has charged Tamimi with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against American nationals. The charge was filed under seal in 2013 and announced by the Justice Department four years later. Tamimi’s name was added to the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists.
The US and Jordan signed an extradition treaty in 1995. But in 2017, Jordan’s high court blocked Tamimi’s extradition, reportedly claiming the treaty was never ratified.
Biden landed in Israel on Wednesday before he travels to a Mideast summit in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
Tangible developments in the budding Israel-Saudi relationship will be announced during the visit, a senior Israeli official said late Tuesday.
“It’s a delicate relationship, it’s very fragile, novel in many respects,” said the official during a Zoom briefing to reporters. “I would urge you to be patient for a few more days before we can put out in the open what will actually be the immediate materialisation of this process.”
The official said that Israel was operating as if “the steps we are taking now will only be the beginning, the start of the process of normalisation between the countries”.
Meanwhile, ahead of the visit, Israel planned to implement a series of measures intended to ease Palestinians’ daily life, the military’s liaison to the Palestinians said on Tuesday.
The announcement came following a meeting between Defence Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah last week.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said Israel would legalise the status of 5500 undocumented Palestinians and foreigners living in the West Bank and Gaza. Other measures announced included approving six Palestinian housing projects in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel maintains civilian control.
In a separate move ahead of Biden’s visit, Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office said it would delay a meeting to advance housing projects for Jewish neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, which was scheduled to take place days after the US President’s trip.
Israel also warned Hamas that any escalation of violence during Biden’s visit would come with a heavy price, according to a report by the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al Akhbar.
According to the report, Israel conveyed the message through Egyptian and Qatari mediators and threatened that such provocation would lead to a severe response.
Specifically, Hamas claimed that Israel threatened to go back on recent economic incentives offered to residents of the Gaza Strip.
TIMES OF ISRAEL, AP
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