Grief, love for Israel victims
HUNDREDS OF friends and family members gathered Monday to say their final goodbyes to the four Israeli soldiers, including two with U.S. citizenship, who were mowed down by a bloodthirsty Palestinian truck driver at a Jerusalem tourist spot Sunday.
Shir Hajaj, 22, who was buried at Mount Herzl Cemetery, was remembered as the family’s gem.
“Shir, my sister, what a loss,” said her sister Bar. “I am so sorry. Where are you? I’m sorry you didn’t get your life. What a good family we had.”
Yael Yekutiel, 20, was laid to rest at the military section of the Givat Shaul Cemetery. “There is no beginning, middle or end. We don’t have enough of you,” her father, Yaakov Yekutiel, said with tears in his eyes. “You were so loved.”
Erez Orbach, 20, who was buried in the Kfar Etzion Cemetery, was never supposed to be in the army, his grandfather Moshe said.
“Erez had a health problem that precluded him from military service, but he didn’t feel exempt,” the grandfather said of the U.S. citizen. “Even though he was rejected by several committees, he stood his ground. In the last committee, he was asked why he was insisting on joining and he responded that it was his duty.”
Shira Tzur, 20, both of whose parents were born in the U.S., was remembered as a smart cadet who tried to make the world a better place. “Shirush, where are you? Why did you leave me?” her grandfather cried at her grave in Haifa.
Meanwhile, Israeli police say they have arrested nine people, including family members of the Palestinian truck driver, who was shot dead by a passerby.
President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, has not commented on the attack.
Germany’s iconic Brandenburg Gate was lit up in blue and white with the Star of David in the middle Monday night to honor the slain soldiers.