Family members of Shelly Dadon, the 19-year-old from Afula who was murdered on May 1, traveled to the town of Elad on Thursday to make a consolation visit to the family of Eyal Yifrah, himself a 19-year-old who was murdered by Hamas terrorists on June 12.
The family of Yifrah, who was abducted and murdered along with Gilad Sha'ar (16) and Naftali Frenkel (16), are currently sitting shiva for their son, in the customary seven-day period of intense mourning after the funeral in which immediate family members do not leave the house.
A tearful Ilana Dadon, the mother of Shelly, approached Eyal's mother Iris. "The heart is broken," Iris told her, adding "our child isn't with us, but we are in a good place. Look at what is happening among the people of Israel, what unity."
"Shelly, Eyal, Naftali and Gilad aren't with us. There's a hole in the heart, but there's also hope. The people of Israel is going through a period that isn't easy. I look at the pictures of Eyal and cry. I know that things are good for him now and good for Shelly too; I feel that in my heart," stated Iris.
Noting the period of searching after the abduction, Iris commented "we believed that they would come back, and they returned after chai ('18,' which in Hebrew numerology spells 'life' - ed.) days. Now they're praying for us and watching us."
In leaving the Yifrah home, Dadon's family told Channel 2 about the visit, with Shelly's father Ya'akov noting "we came to console and we left strengthened. We too are broken from within. They gave us strength."
Shelly's family held a press conference on Monday, in which they called on the state to recognize Shelly's brutal murder as a terrorist act. The call was based on the facts of the investigation revealed to them in a meeting with Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino last week.