Convicted murderer of six Israelis elected as Palestinian mayor of Hebron

Abu Sneineh was one of four Palestinians behind the murder of six Israeli yeshiva students in 1980.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Updated: MAY 14, 2017 11:26
Tayseer Abu Sneineh‏ (photo credit: WIKIMEDIA/بلال الدويك,ARAB MEDIA)
Tayseer Abu Sneineh‏
(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA/بلال الدويك,ARAB MEDIA)
Tayseer Abu Sneineh, the convicted murderer of six Israelis, was reportedly elected mayor of the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday as head of the Fatah Party list.
Abu Sneineh was one of four Palestinians behind the murder of six Israeli yeshiva students in 1980.
The students, included two American citizens and a Canadian national, were part of a group that had danced from the Cave of the Patriarchs to Beit Hadassah in Hebron when Abu Sneineh and his terror cell opened fire. The six students were killed and 16 others were wounded.

The Palestinians were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison but were later released in various prisoner exchanges Israel carried out throughout the 1980s. Tayseer Abu Sneineh was released in a prisoner swap in 1983.
In response to the election, deputy head of the Shomron Regional Council Davidi Ben Sion called on President Donald Trump to cancel his planned meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
“No one is surprised that the Palestinian Authority educates for murder, encourages terrorism and that the murderers are their cultural heroes and the leaders of their younger generation,” Ben Sion said. “So what's new? In a week and two days Donald Trump Will be landing in Israel and according to media reports he is likely to push for some kind of diplomatic process between Israel and the Arabs, the same Arabs who today elected a mayor and a murderer. Mr. President if I were you, I would not be humiliated. if you have self-respect, reconsider your visit to Abbas who denies the Holocaust and encourages murder.”