"הכל נקטע באמצע"

Two days after the brutal stabbing attack in which Dafna Meir lost her life, her friend Rina Ben Shabbat described the heavy sadness that has descended on the community of Otniel. 

"We have lost a dear friend, an amazing woman with an amazing family," Ben Shabbat told Arutz Sheva. "We are suffering tremendous pain and don't believe something so terrible has happened."

Asked if the community was worried it would fall victim to another attack, Ben Shabbat stressed, "there is no fear. We love and are connected to this place. We are not afraid."

"We do demand and expect a firm hand from those who need to protect this place," she continued. "We have faith in the Creator and the people who work night and day to protect us, and we are so grateful for them."

She was not comforted, however, by the apprehension of the terrorist who killed Meir, asserting that there were many others like him.

Ben Shabbat found it painful to talk about her conversations with Meir, remembering, "When you sit to talk with Dafna, it's always about the whole world, it's always fascinating and essential and always at the top of the world." 

"I have so many conversations with her I didn't finish and so many questions and subjects we planned to talk about. Just a few days, we had planned to sit and talk, to listen and argue, the knowledge she is gone is unbearable. Everything has been interrupted in the middle."