Eighteen of the 22 victims of yesterday's double terrorist attack in Tel Aviv have been identified so far. Among them are 12 Israelis and five foreign workers. Two of the 111 wounded are in very critical condition, and five others are listed as critical. The following names of the murdered victims have been released:
Andrei Friedman, 30, of Tel Aviv
Shoshana Yaffe, 46, and Avi Kotzer, 43, of Bat Yam;
Victor Shovayev, 62, and Amiram Zmorah, 55, of Holon;
Chana Haimov, 53, from Kiryat Shalom;
Meir Chaim, 27, and Mazal Orkabi, 20, of Azor.
Sabao Miahai, 39, of Romania, survived by a wife and child in Israel
Nikolai Ivan, 35, of Romania, survived by a wife in Israel
Engalov Kosmov, 33, of Bulgaria, survived by a wife and child overseas
Steven Atu Cromwell of Ghana, who left behind a wife in Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Sharon (accompanied by a Likud Party camera crew), President Katzav, and Foreign Minister Netanyahu made separate visits to the wounded victims of yesterday's attacks at Tel Aviv's Tel HaShomer Hospital today. Netanyahu, accompanied by a group of foreign ambassadors, told them that contrary to the Palestinian murderers who kill without differentiation,
"we're the opposite: we give life without differentiation. We spare no efforts to treat the foreign citizens, as if they were 'flesh of our own flesh.' We ask that the international community, and not only those countries whose citizens were targeted in this attack, support us in our efforts to fight and defend ourselves against this aggression."
Netanyahu made a similar visit following the Kiryat Menachem bus bombing in Jerusalem six weeks ago. The European Union's Miguel Angel Morantinos, among the participants in that visit, was widely quoted as saying at the time, "It is a disaster, a nightmare... I think we have to tell the Palestinians enough is enough." Even Prime Minister Sharon congratulated Netanyahu, his political opponent at the time, saying that the visit was an important contribution in the efforts to present Israel's case to the world.
Yesterday's was the 18th attack since the signing of the Oslo Agreements in which at least 10 people were murdered. In the past 25 years, only two civilian attacks have caused more deaths: In Feb. 1996, 26 people were murdered when a suicide terrorist blew himself up on a #18 bus in Jerusalem, and on Mar. 27 of last year, an Arab murderer detonated himself at a festive Passover Seder meal in Netanya's Park Hotel, killing 29 Jews.
The National Insurance Institute is currently engaged in burial arrangements for the foreign workers, including bringing relatives to Israel if necessary and flying the bodies to their countries. Israeli officials emphasized today that all foreign workers who arrived in Israel legally, even if their visas have expired, are eligible for the same medical and employment benefits as any Israeli citizen wounded in a terrorist attack.
Andrei Friedman, 30, of Tel Aviv
Shoshana Yaffe, 46, and Avi Kotzer, 43, of Bat Yam;
Victor Shovayev, 62, and Amiram Zmorah, 55, of Holon;
Chana Haimov, 53, from Kiryat Shalom;
Meir Chaim, 27, and Mazal Orkabi, 20, of Azor.
Sabao Miahai, 39, of Romania, survived by a wife and child in Israel
Nikolai Ivan, 35, of Romania, survived by a wife in Israel
Engalov Kosmov, 33, of Bulgaria, survived by a wife and child overseas
Steven Atu Cromwell of Ghana, who left behind a wife in Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Sharon (accompanied by a Likud Party camera crew), President Katzav, and Foreign Minister Netanyahu made separate visits to the wounded victims of yesterday's attacks at Tel Aviv's Tel HaShomer Hospital today. Netanyahu, accompanied by a group of foreign ambassadors, told them that contrary to the Palestinian murderers who kill without differentiation,
"we're the opposite: we give life without differentiation. We spare no efforts to treat the foreign citizens, as if they were 'flesh of our own flesh.' We ask that the international community, and not only those countries whose citizens were targeted in this attack, support us in our efforts to fight and defend ourselves against this aggression."
Netanyahu made a similar visit following the Kiryat Menachem bus bombing in Jerusalem six weeks ago. The European Union's Miguel Angel Morantinos, among the participants in that visit, was widely quoted as saying at the time, "It is a disaster, a nightmare... I think we have to tell the Palestinians enough is enough." Even Prime Minister Sharon congratulated Netanyahu, his political opponent at the time, saying that the visit was an important contribution in the efforts to present Israel's case to the world.
Yesterday's was the 18th attack since the signing of the Oslo Agreements in which at least 10 people were murdered. In the past 25 years, only two civilian attacks have caused more deaths: In Feb. 1996, 26 people were murdered when a suicide terrorist blew himself up on a #18 bus in Jerusalem, and on Mar. 27 of last year, an Arab murderer detonated himself at a festive Passover Seder meal in Netanya's Park Hotel, killing 29 Jews.
The National Insurance Institute is currently engaged in burial arrangements for the foreign workers, including bringing relatives to Israel if necessary and flying the bodies to their countries. Israeli officials emphasized today that all foreign workers who arrived in Israel legally, even if their visas have expired, are eligible for the same medical and employment benefits as any Israeli citizen wounded in a terrorist attack.