The Israeli Government and Liviu Librescu's Funeral

The Israeli media has been critical of the lack of official government representation at the funeral of slain Virginia Tech Prof. Liviu Librescu. I really don't understand why the media expected the prime minister or his ministers to attend. Though Prof. Librescu died heroically while saving his students, he didn't do it as an Israeli or on behalf of the State of Israel. He hasn't even lived in Israel for more than 20 years. The massacre in Virginia is an American tragedy, and though Israelis sympathize with America's loss, it is not an Israeli tragedy.

So no, there was no reason for Israeli cabinet ministers to attend Librescu's funeral. In fact, had any of them done so, it would have been a cynical exploitation of the Librescu family's personal tragedy.