Terror victims Hillel and Yagael Yaniv laid to rest, manhunt for killers continues
Hillel and Yagael Yaniv, the brothers killed in a Sunday terror attack, were laid to rest in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon as the manhunt for their killers continues.
The brothers, from the community of Har Bracha in Samaria, were killed in the Palestinian village of Huwara, south of Shechem (Nablus) on Sunday when their car was rammed by Palestinians, forcing it to the side of the road. The brothers were then shot to death at point-blank range.
The funeral of Hillel and Yagael Yaniv at the Mt Herzl Cemetery in Jerusalem on Feb. 27, 2023. Photo by Shalev Shalom/TPS
The Israeli Defense Forces reinforced its manpower in Samaria as Israeli-Palestinian tensions remained high and the search for the terrorists went on. Jews rampaged in Huwara on Sunday night, torching a number of buildings and cars in what they described as a revenge attack.
Hillel was studying in a “hesder” program which combines military service with religious studies in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shemona. According to the Israel Defense Forces, the 21-year-old was a staff sergeant in the Israeli Navy who served in a patrol boat squadron.
Yagael, who was two weeks away from his twentieth birthday, was studying in a similar hesder program in the coastal town of Givat Olga. He was trying to qualify to serve in a combat unit.
The funeral procession made its way from Har Bracha to Jerusalem, with settlers somberly standing by the roadside, paying their last respects.
Before the procession left, the mother, Esti Yaniv, made a plea for national unity, saying, “I sent my two children to the army. We did not use it as a political tool. We want unity. We must not harm the army,” said Esti. “I told my children to remain a united family. We are brothers, the nation of eternity does not fear a long journey.”
In his eulogy, Lt. Col. Roi Gardosh, commander of Hillel’s squadron said, “I didn’t have time to tell your family members how meaningful and important you were to the team and to us in the squadron. It was a great privilege for me to command you,” adding, “Dear Yaniv family, in these unfortunate circumstances we say goodbye to Hillel and Yagael, who fell while on their way to perform the mitzvah of Torah study that was so important to them.”.
The boys’ sister, Rachel, said through tears, “We are trying to accept with love the difficult news that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us yesterday It is difficult and it hurts, we are going through really difficult days. But we are strong, and Israel has been through so many other things. I’m sure we’ll stand by it.”
In Australia, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council has expressed concern about rising levels of West Bank terrorism and its dismay and sadness at the lives lost while strongly condemning Sunday’s violent rioting by settlers in the West Bank town of Huwara.
AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein stated, “We share the anger, dismay and sadness of all Israelis at the cold-blooded murder of brothers Hallel and Yagel Yaniv, ages 21 and 19, on Sunday as they drove through the town of Huwara. We are further dismayed by the murder of another innocent motorist, Elan Ganele, age 27, near Jericho yesterday.
Yet nothing can justify the violence perpetrated against innocent Palestinian residents of Huwara and their property on Sunday night by a mob of some 400 rioters, who appear to have mostly been settlers. Such vigilante violence, reportedly leading to fire damage to several dozen buildings and numerous cars, and the death of at least one Palestinian man and injury to dozens more, is criminal behaviour contrary to both Israeli law and Jewish values, and AIJAC condemns it strongly.
AIJAC calls on Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Galant to spare no effort in seeking to restore calm, to catch the terrorists responsible for the two murderous shootings, and to bring to justice all those who committed crimes against persons or property in Huwara on Sunday evening,” he concluded.
