Three of the victims of yesterday's terror attack in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem were laid to rest Monday afternoon.
The funeral of Cadet Shira Tzur was held in the Haifa military cemetery. The funeral of Lieutenant Yael Yekutiel was held at the military cemetery in the Kiryat Shaul neighborhood of Tel Aviv. And the funeral of Cadet Shir Hajaj was held at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
Hundreds attended the funeral of Cadet Hajaj on Mt. Herzl, including Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, MKs Moti Yogev and Omer Bar-Lev, Ma'ale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.
Meirav Hajaj, Shir's mother, eulogized her daughter. "What a beautiful [gift] God had given us. How proud I was of you, my Shir. Why did this happen to us? Why? What do we do without you? What should we do?"
Lieutenant Assaf Weiss, Shir's commanding officer, said at the funeral: "Once I got a call from a girl who said that because of a foreign trip she missed the selection for the unit. I explained that the IDF academic reserve list was closed. With patience and persistence, day after day, Shir convinced me to arrange an interview for her. Needless to say, we upgraded her to the top of the academic reserves in our unit."
Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar spoke at the funeral as well. "How long, Lord? Until when will the enemies and these wicked ones rejoice? Until when will we see this pain? For how long will we see parents cry, their hearts broken, because of disasters like this which are carried out by evil people who have no boundaries and no limits to their wickedness? There is no limit to the wickedness and the abomination. For how long, Lord?"
The funeral of the fourth victim of the terrorist attack, Cadet Erez Orbach, a graduate of Ohr Torah Stone's Neve Shmuel yeshiva high school and the Maalot hesder yeshiva, took place earlier in the day at the cemetery in Kfar Etzion. His funeral was attended by hundreds of people.