Brother of man killed by freed Palestinian attacks ‘staggering’ hostage deal coverage

The brother of a man who was murdered by a terrorist set to be freed as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal has attacked the “staggering” coverage of the releases by the BBC and other media outlets.

The murderer of tech influencer Hillel Fuld’s brother Ari is slated to be let out of prison in the next few weeks as one of 1,200 prisoners to be exchanged for 33 Israeli hostages (eight of whom are already confirmed to be dead).

Ari was stabbed by 17-year-old Khalil Jabarin at a shopping mall in the West Bank in September 2018. A former IDF paratrooper, the 45-year-old father-of-four gave chase to Jabarin after being stabbed in the back when he saw the teenager heading towards a female shop worker with a knife. Even as his legs buckled, he drew his gun and fired at Jabarin, wounding him and preventing further loss of life.

Jabarin was sentenced to life in prison in January 2020, while it was reported that his family was set to be paid around £350 a month by the Palestinian Authority as part of the so-called “pay for slay” programme for convicted terrorists who have killed Israelis.

Hillel has spoken openly about how his brother’s murder – which he saw a clip of on social media before realising who was involved  - had left him with depression and requiring therapy.

The American-Israeli who is a prominent pro-Israel voice online, said that the agreement to release Jabarin was complicated for him personally but also “beautiful” too because it has seen the return of hostages.

Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin, the Palestinian imprisoned for the murder of Ari Fuld, who is set to be released soon(Photo:Twitter)

The deal struck with Hamas, he said, was “terrible both on a personal level and a strategic one because we are letting out 1000 monsters”.

“But it is also beautiful because we need to bring our people back and our people need to know we will do whatever we have to do, no matter how steep a price to bring them back,” he added. “These poor families will get to be reunited with their loved ones and there is nothing more beautiful than that.”

However, he was sharply critical over the apparent equivalence drawn between hostages and convicted terrorists by some broadcasters.

Earlier this week the BBC was forced to apologise for calling hostages Yarden Bibas, Ofer Kalderon and Keith Siegel — civilians who were all abducted by Hamas on October 7 — “Israeli prisoners”.

A BBC spokesperson later told the JC: “This was a mistake during a live broadcast by our correspondent in Jerusalem – we have since acknowledged this, and apologise for the error.”

Elsewhere, a radio presenter on Five Live also recently called Palestinian prisoners “hostages” – the corporation said the presenter “should have been more consistent with his language”.

Fuld told the JC: “As far as the Western media is concerned, the level of hypocrisy and dishonesty is staggering.

“The fact that they can’t differentiate between innocent hostages – women, children, grandparents – and convicted murderers who are serving life sentences for murder; the fact that these two things are equated in Western media is just absolutely staggering and, yet, also not surprising.”

He added that he hasn’t yet been told which week Jabarin was due to be released. “All I know is that he’s on the list,” he said. “It is like a punch in the stomach but our personal tragedy does not change my opinion on the deal. As a nation, we need to make sure we have each other’s backs. It is a painful, steep price, but it is a price we need to pay at this point.

“Israel is going to have to do what it needs to do to prevent these terrorists from going back to terror and murdering Jews which is, surely, what they will try and do. And if I look at in a different way, even after his death Ari is helping to save hostages.”

As more terrorists are freed – including for hostages who come home dead – Fuld said he did not envy any Israeli leader having to decide whether to carry on with the deal once the first stage is over.

“I’m thankful I’m not in politics because this is a terrible decision to have to make,” he said. “If I was in Netanyahu’s situation I am not sure I’d be able to look at the mothers in the faces and say, ‘I’m sorry but we’re not paying the price to bring your children home from the dungeons of hell.’”