Israel’s Yom Hazikaron: remembering the past year’s terror victims
Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and terror victims, is a time of mourning and reflection over the sacrifices of thousands who have given their lives for the Jewish homeland leading up to and following statehood: 23,544 individuals since 1860, according to the Israeli Defence Ministry…writes Sean Savage/JNS.
A makeshift memorial at the site of the June 2016 Palestinian terrorist shooting at Tel Aviv’s Sarona market. Four Israelis were killed in the attack. Credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90.
Sixty Israelis were added to the list since last year’s Yom Hazikaron, while 37 IDF veterans with disabilities who died as a result of their injuries were also recognized as fallen soldiers.
The number of people murdered in terrorist attacks in Israel since the state’s inception stands at 3,117, according to the country’s National Insurance Institute. This number includes Israelis murdered abroad and foreign nationals killed in Israel.
To mark Yom Hazikaron, JNS.org looks back at the past year’s military, security and civilian victims of terror in Israel. The following list has been assembled from Israeli Foreign Ministry data and media reports on each fatal attack.
June 2016: Sarona market attack
Four Israelis were killed and an additional seven were wounded in a Palestinian terrorist shooting at the popular Sarona food and retail market in Tel Aviv, June 8, 2016.
The Israelis killed in the attack were Ido Ben Ari, 42, of Ramat Gan; Ilana Neve, 39, of Tel Aviv; Michael Feige, 58, of Givatayim; and Mila Mishayev, 32, of Ashkelon.
The shooters dined at the Max Brenner restaurant before executing the terror attack. The terrorists were 21-year-olds Muhammad and Khalid Muhamra, cousins from the Palestinian village of Yatta near Hebron.
June and July 2016: attacks near Hebron
On consecutive days—June 30 and July 1—two Israelis were killed in separate incidents near Hebron.
First, a Palestinian terrorist murdered a 13-year-old Israeli girl in her bedroom after infiltrating the Jewish community of Kiryat Arba. The terrorist broke into the home of Hallel Yaffa Ariel and fatally stabbed her. The terrorist, Mohammed Tarayreh, 17, from the nearby Bani Naim village, was shot dead by Kiryat Arba security personnel.
The following day, Rabbi Michael “Miki” Mark, 48, a father of 10 and the director-general of the Otniel Yeshiva, was shot dead by a Palestinian terrorist as he drove on Route 60 in the south Hebron Hills.
October 2016: Ammunition Hill attack
Levana Malichi and Sgt. Yosef Kirma, a 29-year-old police officer, were killed in a Palestinian terror attack near Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem.
Kirma, who was a member of the elite police reconnaissance unit Yasem, was killed while trying to take down the gunman.
“He fearlessly pursued the terrorist in order to neutralize him and prevent further harm to innocent bystanders,” Israeli police said.
Malichi was a mother of three and a grandmother of six, and a former Knesset employee. She was shot while waiting for public transportation.
January 2017: Haifa attack
Guy Kafri, 47, a resident of Haifa’s Nesher neighbourhood, was shot and killed in a terror attack perpetrated by an Arab resident of Haifa.
Memorial candles and pictures of the slain victims at the site of the January 2017 truck-ramming terror attack in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, as Israelis gather to mourn the four soldiers killed in the attack. Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
January 2017: Jerusalem truck-ramming
Four Israeli soldiers were killed in a terror attack in Jerusalem while on a field trip organized by their army unit.
A large truck ploughed into a group of Israeli soldiers who had exited a bus in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, then reversed direction and ran over the bodies again.
The slain Israeli soldiers were Yael Yekutiel, 20; Shir Hajaj 22; Shira Tzur, 20; and Erez Orbach, 20. The terrorist, who was shot dead at the scene, was Fadi al-Qanbar, from the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the truck attack was likely carried out by a supporter of the Islamic State terror group.
January 2017: car-ramming in Bedouin village
Israel Police Sgt. Maj. Erez Levi, 34, was killed in the line of duty in a car-ramming attack in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran. He died after one of the village’s residents rammed his vehicle into security forces.
April 2017: car-ramming at Ofra Junction
IDF Sgt. Elhai Teharlev, 20, from the Israeli settlement of Talmon, was killed at the Ofra Junction on Route 60 when a Palestinian terrorist rammed a vehicle into a group of soldiers who were standing near a bus stop.
April 2017: Jerusalem light rail attack
A Palestinian terrorist fatally stabbed 21-year-old British exchange student Hannah Bladon while she was riding Jerusalem’s light rail April 14. Bladon had taken Bible studies, archaeology and religion courses at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The attack took place near the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, which was crowded with tourists marking Passover and Good Friday.
The terrorist, 57-year-old Jamil Tamimi, from the Ras al-Amud neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem, would later reportedly receive a monthly stipend of approximately $1,000 from the Palestinian Authority.
