Moshe Naftali
Moshe NaftaliCourtesy of Family

An IDF investigation has found that 22-year-old Staff Sergeant Moshe Naftali, who was killed in the multiple terror attacks near Eilat last week, was killed by IDF fire and not by the terrorists who infiltrated Israel from the Sinai Peninsula.

On Friday, Golani Commander Ofek Buchris told Naftali’s family of the findings of the investigation.

Naftali, a resident of the Jewish community of Ofra in Binyamin, was part of the Golani force that was called to assist a civilian bus that was fired upon by terrorists.

A firefight ensued between the force and the cell of terrorists as the soldiers approached, sustaining withering fire. The IDF’s investigation found that during the firefight, one of the other fighters accidentally shot Naftali, critically wounding him. He died of his wounds shortly thereafter.

Naftali was drafted after a year of pre-military studies in Keshet in the Golan Heights. Prior to that he attended a yeshivah high school in Beit El. He left behind parents, two brothers and four sisters.

Upon hearing the news that his son was killed by ‘friendly fire,’ Moshe’s father Yosef said, “Moshe our son is a hero who fought for the people of Israel and the land of Israel. We have no anger in our hearts for anyone.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)