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A questionable apology

The sincerity of Ehud Barak's public apology to Israel's Arab community for 13 deaths at the hands of the police in 2000 has come under attack given its openly political nature.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank — Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak's public apology for the deaths of 12 Arab citizens of Israel and one West Bank Palestinian during protests in 2000 at the start of the second intifada may have served its political objective—allowing his party entering an alliance—but some of the families of those killed and others are not so forgiving. They believe prosecutions are in order.

Barak had apologized on July 23 for the deaths, which occurred under his watch as prime minister. “I express my regret and apologize to the families and to the [Arab] community,” Barak said on Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster. He further stated, “There should be no situation in which demonstrators are killed by the fire of the security forces of their own country. I have apologized in the past.”

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