‘He lived as a hero and died as a hero’
Friends and neighbors mourn father of four
Under the night stars, teenagers gathered in the Gush Etzion parking lot on Sunday night to bid farewell to stabbing victim Ari Fuld, a well-known social media personality and Israel advocate.
They carried Israeli flags, played guitar, sang mournful songs and placed candles on the pavement in the shape of a Star of David.
In a statement released earlier in the day, his sister-in-law Shoshana said that Fuld “believed in the people of Israel and the land of Israel by the Torah of Israel.” She said he was “a true fighter, bringing truth to the world.
“This morning he went shopping and a terrorist stabbed him in the back, which penetrated his lungs and he later died from
his wound,” she said. “The nation of Israel and the State of Israel lost a true warrior who fought constantly for the truth, his people and his nation.”
Born in New York, Fuld, 45, immigrated to Israel in 1994. The dual US-Israeli citizen lived in Efrat with his wife Miriam, and was the father of Tamar, 22, Naomi, 21, Yakir, 17, and Natan 12. He served as a sergeant in an elite paratroopers unit in the IDF reserves, and also served on the Efrat emergency squad.
His Facebook page states: “Living the dream! I have a love for the Nation of Israel, Land of Israel and Torah of Israel.”
Well-known in Jewish communities around the globe, Fuld was assistant director of Standing Together, an organization that supports IDF soldiers. He was an outspoken defender of Israel in the media and online, regularly engaging with Israel’s critics through his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
According to his personal website, Fuld was about to
launch a new Israel advocacy website in English.
He held a fourth-level black belt in karate and had taught the martial art to hundreds of children in Efrat.
In a commentary on the weekly Torah portion on his Facebook page posted September 14, Fuld spoke about Moses’s last words to the people of Israel before he died and speculated on the nature of leadership.
Moses tells them to be strong and brave because God will not abandon the people of Israel, Fuld said.
Fuld’s brother, Eytan, is the spokesman for MK Bezalel Smotrich (Bayit Yehudi).
A second brother, Hillel Fuld, a well-known hightech guru, wrote on his Twitter account, “He lived as a hero and died as a hero. My big bro is gone. Thanks for the messages. Really. Just looking for oxygen now.” •