WarSclerotic

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “heartbroken and appalled” after a shooter murdered at least 11 people and wounded six others, including four police officers, at a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday.

“The entire people of Israel grieve with the families of the dead,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “We stand together with the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, we stand together with the American people in the face of this horrendous anti-Semitic brutality, and we all pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded.”

Video: Reuters

Local authorities and media said a gunman yelling “all Jews must die” stormed the synagogue during Saturday services and fired at worshippers.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett said he would travel to Pittsburgh to offer his support to the Jewish community there. He added that he has instructed his team to provide any assistance that might be required.

“The State of Israel is deeply pained by this terrible anti-Semitic murder,” Bennett said in a statement Saturday. “Our Jewish brothers and sisters came under a murderous attack while at prayer. Our hearts go out to the families of those killed, and we pray for the swift recovery of the injured, as we pray this is the last such event.”

President Reuven Rivlin also extended his condolences, saying “We are thinking of ‘our brothers and sisters, the whole house of Israel, in this time of trouble,’ as we say in the morning prayers. We are thinking of the families of those who were murdered and praying for the quick recovery of those who were injured. I am sure that the law enforcement agencies and the legal authorities in the U.S. will investigate this horrific event thoroughly and that the despicable murderer will be brought to justice.”

The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality projected the flags of both the U.S. and Israel onto its city hall building on Saturday in a show of solidarity with the victims of the shooting attack.

Reuters

U.S. authorities said they planned to bring hate crime and other criminal charges against the murder suspect, 46-year-old Robert Bowers from Pittsburgh, who was arrested at the scene.

The shooting, for which one federal law enforcement official said Bowers used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, prompted security alerts at houses of worship around the country.

Shortly after reports of the shooting emerged, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet he was watching what he described as a “devastating” situation.

Trump also called to bring back the death penalty hours after Bowers stormed the synagogue.

Speaking at a rally in southern Illinois, Trump said those responsible for the shooting in Pittsburgh and other similar crimes should pay the “ultimate price.”

“The world is a violent world,” he said before his speech. “And you think when you’re over it, it just sort of goes away, but then it comes back in the form of a madman, a wacko. … They had a maniac walk in and they didn’t have any protection and that is just so sad to see, so sad to see.”

Trump said lawmakers “should very much bring the death penalty into vogue” and people who kill in places such as synagogues and churches “really should suffer the ultimate price.”

Trump said “the hearts of all Americans are filled with grief, following the monstrous killing.” He also distanced himself from Bowers, who has voiced support for Trump in the past, calling him “sick” and saying “he was no supporter of mine.”

Trump called for solidarity with “our Jewish brothers and sisters,” adding that the U.S. would seek the “destruction” of those looking to harm Jews.

The president made his remarks before Bowers had been formally charged.

U.S. leaders have typically avoided commenting on the legal outcomes they would like to see following a mass shooting, choosing instead to focus on the suffering of the victims.

Before the shooting, Bowers posted many anti-Semitic comments online, including one early on Saturday. In one post, he slammed Trump for doing nothing to stop an “infestation” of the United States by Jews.

Trump told reporters that experiencing such events as president is “a level of terribleness and horror that you can’t even believe. It’s hard to believe.”

The White House said Trump was receiving regular briefings on the attack. He spoke with the governor of Pennsylvania and the mayor of Pittsburgh. He also spoke with his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who are Jewish.

Shortly after returning to Washington late Saturday, Trump ordered flags at federal buildings throughout the country to be flown at half-staff until Oct. 31 in “solemn respect” for the victims.

Earlier in the day, Trump speculated that the death toll in Pittsburgh would have been curbed if an armed guard had been in the building. With both the number of deaths and details of the synagogue’s security still to be disclosed, Trump said gun control “has little to do with it” but “if they had protection inside, the results would have been far better.”

But the attack did not persuade him that tighter gun controls are needed.

“This is a case where, if they had an armed guard inside, they might have been able to stop him immediately,” Trump said. “Maybe there would have been nobody killed, except for him, frankly. So it’s a very, very – a very difficult situation.”

Former U.S. President Barack Obama said, “We grieve for the Americans murdered in Pittsburgh. All of us have to fight the rise of anti-Semitism and hateful rhetoric against those who look, love or pray differently. And we have to stop making it so easy for those who want to harm the innocent to get their hands on a gun.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said: “We are devastated. Jews targeted on Shabbat morning at synagogue, a holy place of worship, is unconscionable. Our hearts break for the victims, their families, and the entire Jewish community.”

Chuck Diamond, a former Rabbi at the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue where the shooting occurred, said, “This has always been a thought in the back of my mind, scenarios just like this. During the week the building is locked. We have a security camera to see who comes. But on Shabbat it’s an open door. And there are people right there where he would have walked in.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a statement: “We are sickened by this horrific attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s historic Jewish neighborhood. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the dead and injured as well as the rest of the congregation and Jewish community.”