Three of the seven victims of Friday’s terror attack in Jerusalem were laid to rest late Saturday night, as Israel mourned the deaths and grappled with soaring tensions and escalating violence with the Palestinians.
The shooting outside a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Neve Ya’akov neighborhood was the deadliest terrorist attack against Israelis in over a decade.
The youngest victim of the shooting, 14-year-old Asher Natan, was buried in the Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
“I always wanted so much for things to be good for you. Now you’re in a good place for eternity,” his father, Aharon Natan, said at the ceremony.
“Asher didn’t die, he only parted from his body. His soul is eternal. The unity here is a giant embrace for us,” he said.
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“I’m sorry that sometimes I hurt you and didn’t see the good in you,” he said to his son, according to the Ynet news site.
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said, “No one can describe the terrible pain of parents who have to bury their son but I want to tell them — Israel will always overcome.”
“We’ll do everything in order to not return to the terrible days when fear ruled the streets,” Lion said.
Eli and Natali Mizrahi, a married couple killed in the attack, were buried in the Derech Hachaim cemetery near the city of Beit Shemesh.
Eli’s father, Shimon, said the pair had gone outside to try and help those who had been shot during the attack, and were killed by the terrorist at point-blank range.
“I cried out for them to not go down, but they didn’t respond. They heard gunfire and went out to help,” the father said at the funeral.
Family and friends attend the funeral of Eli and Natali Mizrahi in Beit Shemesh, on January 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Beit Shemesh Mayor Aliza Bloch said, “Your hearts connected the two of you in life. Nine years together. You wanted to grow a family and teach them your ability to give.”
“Your hearts also connect you in death. Today you are teaching your ability to give to all the children of Beit Shemesh,” Bloch said.
Eli Mizrahi’s sister interrupted Likud lawmaker Nir Bakat while he was speaking at the funeral, accusing him of posturing, Army Radio reported.
“Get out of here. You’re talking like that because there are people around and there’s media. You’re putting on a show,” she told Barkat, the economy minister.
Natali Mizrahi was a veteran employee at the Hadassah Mount Scopus hospital, where she was brought after being shot on Friday night. Her death was declared immediately upon arrival, the hospital said.
Victims killed in a terror attack in Jerusalem on January 27, 2023, clockwise from top right: Asher Natan, 14, Eli, 48, and Natali Mizrahi, 45, Ilya Sosansky, 26, Rafael Ben Eliyahu, 56, Irina Korolova, 59, and Shaul Hai, 68. (Courtesy)
The other victims of the terror attack have been identified as Rafael Ben Eliyahu, 56; Shaul Hai, 68; Irina Korolova, 59; and Ilya Sosansky, 26.
The details for their funerals have not been released.
Another three people were wounded in the attack.
Ben Eliyahu, a resident of the area of the attack, was survived by his wife and three children. He worked for the state-owned Israel Post.
Hai was a sexton at a synagogue in the neighborhood, but not the one where the attack took place, according to the Kikar Shabbat news site.
The report said Hai was killed while heading to a Torah lesson at his synagogue.
According to Hebrew media reports, Korolova, a Ukrainian citizen, worked as a caretaker.
“We share [Israel’s] pain after the terrorist attacks in Jerusalem. Among the victims is a [Ukrainian] woman,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter. “Sincere condolences to the victims’ families. The crimes were cynically committed on the [International] Holocaust Remembrance Day.”
Condolences, and condemnations for the attack, poured in from other world leaders on Friday night and Saturday.
Israeli security forces and first responders at the scene of a terror attack in Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem, January 27, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
“On behalf of all citizens of Israel, I would like to send condolences from the bottom of my heart to the families of those murdered in the heinous and terrible attack in our capital, Jerusalem,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
“The heart breaks,” said opposition leader Yair Lapid. “I send condolences and strength to the families at this difficult hour.”
Demonstrators protesting the government’s judicial overhaul were subdued on Saturday night due to the attacks, with a smaller turnout than the massive rallies held last week. Saturday’s events began with a minute of silence for the victims and protest organizers cut the carnival-like elements from the rallies in the wake of the attacks.
Lapid, who appeared at last week’s protest in Tel Aviv, elected to attend the Jerusalem rally, where he lit a candle in memory of the seven victims.
“I came here to Jerusalem to declare to everyone that we are one people. We are standing up against terror as one people,” Lapid said.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid lights a memorial candle at an anti-government protest in Jerusalem, January 28, 2023. (Alex Gamburg)
Friday’s Jerusalem terror attack, carried out near a synagogue during Shabbat, was the deadliest Palestinian terror attack since 2008 and ramped up tensions that were already soaring amid ongoing violence between Israel and the Palestinians.
The shooting has been followed by more violence. On Saturday morning, a 13-year-old Palestinian shot and wounded two Israelis in the capital. Later in the day, a Palestinian gunman opened fire at a West Bank restaurant, causing no injuries. On Saturday night, a security guard near a West Bank settlement shot dead an armed Palestinian in another suspected attack attempt.
The rash of attacks followed days of violence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Tensions have increased dramatically since Thursday morning, when an IDF raid in the West Bank against a terrorist cell left nine Palestinians dead — most of them gunmen and members of the cell, though at least one civilian was also killed.
The IDF said Thursday’s operation in the Jenin refugee camp was necessary to foil imminent attack plans by a local Islamic Jihad terror cell. The group had primed explosives and firearms, according to the IDF.
Thursday overnight saw rocket fire from Palestinian terror groups in Gaza and Israeli retaliatory air strikes, although both sides appeared intent on avoiding an escalation into a full-scale war.
