Michal Froman Injured in Tekoa Stabbing Attack

I’m so sorry to hear that Michal Froman, wife of my friend Shivi Froman, was hurt Monday when she was stabbed by a Palestinian in her home settlement of Tekoa. Michal is 18-weeks pregnant, but the baby was not hurt. Shivi is the son of the late Menachem Froman, the noted settler rabbi and proponent of political resolution via religious reconciliation. The irony of the incident was quickly grasped by the media, but the Froman family rose to the occasion — Haddassah Froman, Shivi’s mother, spoke of the incident as a reminder of the urgency of efforts at reconciliation. According to the Times of Israel: “In an interview with Army Radio, Hadassah Froman said Israel was “mishandling” the delicate fabric of its relations with the Palestinians, and needed to make a greater effort to distinguish between those Palestinians who support terrorism and those who want to live in peace. ‘My life’s work is near-daily contact with the Palestinian public,’ she said, adding that it was Israel’s responsibility and interest to “embrace” that part of the Palestinian populace that seeks coexistence.” The New York Times coverage emphasized that the attack in a settlement, the second in a few days, may represent a “shift” in nature of Palestinian violence that has marked the “stabbing intifada.”