Assaf Hershkovitz, 31, who was murdered early this morning on his way to work in Jerusalem from his home in Ofrah, will be buried this afternoon in Petach Tikvah. Terrorists waiting in ambush fired dozens bullets into his van, hitting him several times in the chest and neck and killing him almost instantly. Assaf, husband of Hila and father of two children, was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time. The attack occurred about 300 meters before the T-junction leading to Beit El; a Beit El resident was shot at in the same spot two days ago, but was not hurt. The terrorists escaped into the nearby village of Bitin, which has now been placed under curfew; the security forces search for the murderers.
Assaf\'s father Aryeh, also from Ofrah, was similarly murdered by Palestinian terrorists three months ago, outside Atarot in northern Jerusalem - about eight aerial kilometers from where his son was killed this morning. Ofrah suffered another terrorist loss two months before that, when Miriam Amitai, who grew up in Ofrah and whose family still resides there, was killed in a Kfar Darom bus bombing last November.
Assaf\'s father Aryeh, also from Ofrah, was similarly murdered by Palestinian terrorists three months ago, outside Atarot in northern Jerusalem - about eight aerial kilometers from where his son was killed this morning. Ofrah suffered another terrorist loss two months before that, when Miriam Amitai, who grew up in Ofrah and whose family still resides there, was killed in a Kfar Darom bus bombing last November.