Thousands of people took part in the funeral procession this afternoon of Assaf Hershkovitz, 31, who was murdered by terrorists early this morning on his way to work from his home in Ofrah. Terrorists waiting in ambush fired dozens of bullets into his van, hitting him several times in the chest and neck and killing him almost instantly. Assaf, father of a son, 4, and a daughter, 2, was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time. The attack occurred on the Ofrah-Jerusalem highway, about 300 meters north of 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 via a nearby side road, traveled only by Arabs, into the village of Bitin. The village was placed under curfew as the security forces searched 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 the Kfar Darom bus bombing last November.
The funeral made its way from Ofrah\'s Givat Tzvi neighborhood (named for Tzvi Klein, an Ofrah resident killed by Arab terrorists some ten years ago), past the site of today\'s murder, and then to his father\'s murder site in Atarot; he will be buried alongside his father in Segulah Cemetery in Petach Tikvah. Among the participants were many residents of neighboring communities, public figures, and family members of terrorist victims - such as the fathers of 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass and 18-year-old Ohad Bachrach. Close to a dozen people eulogized Assaf, including his wife Hila, his 11-year brother Dor, Rabbis Zalman Melamed, Avi Gisser, and Moti Elon, followed by Adir Zik, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, Yehuda Etzion, and others. The victim\'s little brother Dor said, \"Assaf, you were not only my older brother, but also acted as my father... We stood together to say the Kaddish [prayer for mourners] - and now I wonder how I will be able to meet the challenge of continuing to say Kaddish alone, while having you in mind as well...\"
Assaf\'s wife Hila spoke simply of her husband\'s pure Zionism: \"You lived your life for Eretz Yisrael, and now you have been murdered for it. That\'s it... But we will continue to live here and build here, just as you did.\"
Rabbi Melamed said, \"The heart of the leadership is sealed, and its mind is blinded... We need a strong and courageous leader who will turn things around and will exalt the glory of Israel… However: Even with all the difficulties and the tremendous pain and tears, we will gather our strength, and we will step up the pace of our march to our Redemption. Neither terrorism nor inner weakness will be able to block our return to our land, to our Torah, to ourselves, and to our G-d…\"
Minister Uzi Landau said that much of the nation is beginning to understand the terrible mistake that was Oslo, but that we must continue the efforts to convince the rest of the nation. Earlier, he told a radio interviewer that Israel \"might always have to live by the sword, but our enemies must understand that they can never defeat us.\" He further stated that Yasser Arafat was not \"Israel\'s peace partner but rather Saddam Hussein\'s partner.\"
Rabbi Moti Elon: \"Although we have rules about killing animals - \'Thou shalt not kill it and its offspring on the same day\' - these animals who are our neighbors have no such principles about killing us… We see how Hila stands and promises to continue working for the Sanctification of G-d\'s Name by living, building, here in the Land of Israel...\"
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 the Kfar Darom bus bombing last November.
The funeral made its way from Ofrah\'s Givat Tzvi neighborhood (named for Tzvi Klein, an Ofrah resident killed by Arab terrorists some ten years ago), past the site of today\'s murder, and then to his father\'s murder site in Atarot; he will be buried alongside his father in Segulah Cemetery in Petach Tikvah. Among the participants were many residents of neighboring communities, public figures, and family members of terrorist victims - such as the fathers of 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass and 18-year-old Ohad Bachrach. Close to a dozen people eulogized Assaf, including his wife Hila, his 11-year brother Dor, Rabbis Zalman Melamed, Avi Gisser, and Moti Elon, followed by Adir Zik, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, Yehuda Etzion, and others. The victim\'s little brother Dor said, \"Assaf, you were not only my older brother, but also acted as my father... We stood together to say the Kaddish [prayer for mourners] - and now I wonder how I will be able to meet the challenge of continuing to say Kaddish alone, while having you in mind as well...\"
Assaf\'s wife Hila spoke simply of her husband\'s pure Zionism: \"You lived your life for Eretz Yisrael, and now you have been murdered for it. That\'s it... But we will continue to live here and build here, just as you did.\"
Rabbi Melamed said, \"The heart of the leadership is sealed, and its mind is blinded... We need a strong and courageous leader who will turn things around and will exalt the glory of Israel… However: Even with all the difficulties and the tremendous pain and tears, we will gather our strength, and we will step up the pace of our march to our Redemption. Neither terrorism nor inner weakness will be able to block our return to our land, to our Torah, to ourselves, and to our G-d…\"
Minister Uzi Landau said that much of the nation is beginning to understand the terrible mistake that was Oslo, but that we must continue the efforts to convince the rest of the nation. Earlier, he told a radio interviewer that Israel \"might always have to live by the sword, but our enemies must understand that they can never defeat us.\" He further stated that Yasser Arafat was not \"Israel\'s peace partner but rather Saddam Hussein\'s partner.\"
Rabbi Moti Elon: \"Although we have rules about killing animals - \'Thou shalt not kill it and its offspring on the same day\' - these animals who are our neighbors have no such principles about killing us… We see how Hila stands and promises to continue working for the Sanctification of G-d\'s Name by living, building, here in the Land of Israel...\"