Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Monday said that the brutal rape of a seven-year-old girl, allegedly by a Palestinian man who was indicted by a military court on Sunday, "has to be investigated as a nationalistically motivated event, regardless of what the despicable rapist has to say about the motive and circumstances."
The suspect, identified by Channel 12 News as Nazmi Abed el-Hamid Kattousa, 46, a married father from the nearby central West Bank village of Dir Kadis, worked as a janitor at the girl's school in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria. He allegedly met the girl at the school and fostered a relationship with her by occasionally speaking to her and giving her candy.
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The indictment followed a three-month investigation carried out by the Israel Police. Kattousa denied all charges during the investigation, putting his word against the girl's testimony.
On the day in question, Kattousa reportedly took the girl by the hand and forcefully led her to a nearby house, where he brutally raped her. After the attack, he released the girl.
The police maintain that there is no evidence to support the assertion that the rape was nationalistically motivated.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted on Monday: "The appalling rape of the little girl rattles all of our hearts. I would like to strengthen the family. The courts must implement the full extent of the law with everyone who is responsible for this horrible act."
Attorney Haim Bleicher from the right-wing Honenu legal aid organization, who represents the family, issued a statement saying, "This was an exceedingly brutal and appalling incident, as other people were present [during the rape], apparently Palestinian laborers who humiliated the girl, degraded her and aided the suspect. It appears to be an act of pure hatred by a group of scum who flouted all human decency simply because the victim was Jewish."
Erdan, speaking in Beit Shemesh at a memorial ceremony for fallen police officers, said, "The police are on the front lines dealing with terrorism on a daily basis, and to our great sorrow also must deal with the most heinous types of crimes and events."
"I have no doubt that the person accused of this atrocity, if convicted of this terrible act, along with everyone who helped him, was also nourished by the incitement and hatred they absorb every day in the Palestinian Authority," he added.
The case continued to make waves on social media on Tuesday as additional details emerged. Many online called for Kattousa to receive the death penalty. Some 30,000 people, meanwhile, have already signed a petition calling for Kattousa to receive the maximum penalty under the law, which is a life sentence.
Israeli law does not allow for the death penalty for sex-related crimes.
The online calls echoed public calls by Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman, who said: "This was a well-planned terrorist attack against a young, innocent and helpless girl. This is exactly one of those cases where I wouldn't hesitate, and demand that the court sentence this loathsome terrorist to death."
Lieberman added: "This is not pedophilia. This is pure terror – one of the worst kinds I have heard in recent years," he said in a statement.
"The vile person who committed this terrible act has no right to exist in this world – he and all those who helped him," said United Right leader Rafi Peretz.
Peretz's No. 2, Bezalel Smotrich tweeted: "If death could only be imposed on this scum. Nothing less. Such a monster does not deserve to breathe air in our world."
Left-wing lawmakers warned Tuesday that as the suspect was Palestinian, the Right was using the case to "fan the flames of incitement."
