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Thousands of Israelis accompanied the four soldiers killed in Sunday’s terror attack on their last journey.
The four Israeli soldiers killed in Sunday’s truck-ramming terror attack in Jerusalem were laid to rest on Monday in separate ceremonies across the country.
The victims were Lt. Yael Yekutiel, 20, from the central Israeli city of Givatayim; cadets Shir Hajaj, 22, from the Jerusalem suburb of Ma’ale Adumim and Shira Tzur, 20, from Haifa; and Sec.-Lt. Erez Orbach, 20, from Alon Shvut, southwest of Jerusalem.
“There is no beginning, middle or end. We don’t have enough of you. You were so loved. Your wonderful smile, love of life, love of others and the fun we had with you,” Yekutiel’s father lamented at the funeral in the military section of Tel Aviv’s Givat Shaul cemetery, Ynet reported.
Orbach, a dual Israeli-American citizen, was laid to rest at a cemetery in Kfar Etzion. “Erez had a health problem that precluded him from military service, but he didn’t feel exempt,” his grandfather said, according to Ynet. “He fought to draft into the IDF and 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.”
Tzur was born to American parents. She “was a remarkable girl, invested, a guide in the [Israeli] scouts. Everyone regarded her as an exemplary graduate—an outstanding girl, a social leader and also emotionally sensitive to justice and injustices,” said school director Mandi Ravinovich, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“My heart hurts that in this crazy country, a soldier in uniform becomes a target for radical Muslim terrorism and we don’t know how to ensure her wellbeing on the day that she goes to see Jerusalem,” Ravinovich added.
The funeral for Hajaj took place at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl cemetery.
“What a beauty God gave us. How proud we were of you. Our Shir. Why do we deserve this? Why? What will we do without you?” Hajaj’s mother, Meirav, cried at the ceremony.
Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar spoke at the funeral. “How long, Lord? Until when will the enemies and these wicked ones rejoice? Until when will we see this pain? For how long will we see parents cry, their hearts broken, because of disasters like this which are carried out by evil people who have no boundaries and no limits to their wickedness? There is no limit to the wickedness and the abomination. For how long, Lord?” he said, according to Arutz 7.
By: JNS.org and United with Israel Staff
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