"We expect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Reuven Rivlin, to come to the family home in Umm al-Hiran and apologize to the mother, widow and children," said Ahmed Abu al-Kiyan, the brother of a Yacoub Abu al-Kiyan, said on Wednesday.
Yacoub Abu al-Kiyan, a teacher, was shot to death in an alleged car-ramming attack in January 2017, for which he was declared to be a terrorist by law enforcement officials and political leaders.
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On Tuesday evening, Netanyahu issued a formal apology to al-Kiyan's family and stated that the government had determined that he was not a terrorist.
Al-Kiyan's relatives welcomed the prime minister's apology but his brother, Ahmed, said he and his family want more than a public apology. "My brother was shot in cold blood," he said.
Israel Hayom reported on Wednesday that the head of the Shin Bet security agency, Nadav Argaman, forbade the Shin Bet investigator handling its probe of the Umm al-Hiran incident from informing the Justice Ministry's Internal Investigations Department of her conclusion that al-Kiyan was not a terrorist, and that police officer Erez Levy had been run over accidentally, not in a car-ramming attack.
However, the Israel Police declared the incident a terrorist attack, and now it appears that not only former Israel Police Commissioner Alsheikh, but also senior officials in the Shin Bet – including Argaman – prevented the representative who had been at the scene from giving the Internal Investigations Department her version of the events.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu needs to come here to see the conditions in which we have been living in recent years," another relative said at a press conference.
Dr. Hussam al-Kiyan, Yacoub's son, said: "Netanyahu apologized but it was too late. My father was gunned down by cops, for no reason, after doing nothing wrong. My father was a man of education who taught generations."
Another brother of al-Kiyan's, Jaaber, demanded the establishment of a committee of inquiry.
"[Former Public Security Minister Gilad] Erdan called my brother a terrorist just because he is an Arab. The prime minister's apology is a positive thing and an important step, but I say to [Netanyahu] – come and be forthcoming and rehabilitate the family.
Al-Kiyan's widow, Rabiya, added: "Why did it take four years to apologize? Look how we are living. We have no home, no water and no electricity. The prime minister needs to come here."
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