Miriam Ben Gal (C) at her husband’s funeral. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

An Israeli minister declared that the proper Zionist and Jewish response to Palestinian terrorism is growth and life, in the face of death. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely arrived at Har Bracha, in Samaria, on Thursday to pay a condolence visit to the family of Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal, who was murdered in a terror attack on Monday.

Ben Gal, a 29-year-old father of four and an educator, was stabbed to death by an Israeli Arab while waiting for a ride to a family event.

“We are not people who seek vengeance but who seek life, and since this is our national mission, we want to increase building in this important community,” Hotovely said after the visit.

“Our goal is that all our enemies should know that the price of such murderous behavior is that the people of Israel will thrive and the state of Israel will increase building in this place,” she underscored, according to a clip posted on INN.

She expressed hope that Har Bracha, now a small community, will grow to become a city.

“The best start is to approve the construction plan here of 800 housing units. This is our mission – to strengthen the state of Israel and the Land of Israel,” she declared. “All those who seek to weaken us through terrorism will know that we will not be weakened, but that you will have strengthened a Jewish town here.”

Miriam Ben Gal, Itamar’s widow, also said that her husband wanted to see his hometown grow to become a city.

“I think that the only consolation that can be – is that we will see our community here develop, grow and become a city,” she stated.

“[The terrorists] should know that these action lead to the development of the Jewish people. Itamar was thinking all the time of ways to make the town better,” she explained.