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The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday criticized United States Ambbadador to Israel, David Friedman, for making a condolence visit to the West Bank home of an Israeli stabbed to death at the time of his death. 39, a terrorist attack last week.
The PA Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it condemned the visit "in the strongest terms", the "provocative" caller.
The statement claimed that settler leaders viewed such visits as an affirmation of the support of the US administration to the colonies.
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While US officials rarely visit settlements, Friedman did it once and is not the first US ambbadador to do so.
A spokesman for the US Embbady said that his office would not comment on the agenda of the ambbadador. ] Friedman went to the Colony of Adam north of Jerusalem on Monday where he met the family of Yotam Ovadia, 31, who was killed in Thursday's attack by a Palestinian who he was infiltrated into the colony.
Ovadia's wife while she was observing the traditional Jewish week of mourning for close relatives, known as shiva
"I had heartbroken to see the tragic impact of the murder of Yotam Ovadia, caring for two small children, parents in mourning for their only son.The words are insufficient to describe the evil and barbarity of the act terrorist, "he said after leaving the house.
Ovadia was father of a 2 year old child and a 7 month old boy. Friedman paid a condolence visit to MP Likud Yehudah Glick's home in the Otniel settlement while lawmakers mourned the death of his wife, Yafi.
Yafi Glick was considered a terrorist victim after his death due to complications. an attempt to badbadinate her husband in 2014.
Yotam Ovadia, who was killed in a terrorist attack in the West Bank settlement of Adam on July 26, 2018 Courtesy of)
Contrary to previous US envoys, Friedman was known as He was a staunch defender of Israeli settlements before taking office as president of the American Friends of Bet El Institutions, an organization that supports the large West Bank settlement near Ramallah.
This support has continued since his appointment as ambbadador. In September, Friedman said the settlements "are part of Israel".
Friedman's predecessor, Dan Shapiro, paid condolence visits to lawmakers Avigdor Liberman and Yuli Edelstein in the Nokdim and Neve Daniel colonies respectively
. Thursday's attack on Adam, the US special envoy Jason Greenblatt criticized the AP for not condemning the murder.
According to the Israeli authorities, Palestinian suspect Mohammad Tareq Yousef crossed the West Bank security fence before 9 pm Thursday. He penetrated deeper into the colony, crossing a playground, where he met Ovadia, and stabbed him repeatedly in the upper torso.
Another resident, 58, was also stabbed. He was rushed to hospital in serious condition, but his condition improved in the days following the attack and he was released at home on Sunday.
A third resident, 41, had just left his house when he heard the disturbance. Yusef also approached and managed to stab him once before the resident of Adam pulled out a gun and shot him. The 41-year-old Israeli was slightly injured during the meeting, but was released from the hospital soon after being treated.
Adam Rasgon and Jacob Magid contributed to this report
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