Gabriel Ganeles, the younger brother of Elan Ganeles, who was murdered in a terrorist shooting attack near Jericho yesterday (Monday), spoke to Channel 12 News about the murder of his older brother.
"I feel terrible. We traveled in the north yesterday and he dropped me off on the train so I could go to my studies. He went to his friend's wedding and on the way there was the attack," Gabriel said.
He said he learned of the attack from his parents. "My parents called me after they were called by Israel, probably by the embassy, and were told that there had been an attack. We were not afraid of the security situation until it touched us."
Regarding the family's decision to bury Elan in Israel, Gabriel said: "He was killed on the way to the wedding. We thought it would be right to bury him in Israel, because of his connection to Israel. This is what he would have wanted. We felt that it was appropriate."
He also shared a selfie which he and Elan had taken together just hours before Elan was murdered.
Dov, Elan's uncle, who lives in Ra'anana, said: "He came to Israel after high school for a study program. He loved Israel very much. He felt that he wanted to stay and connect with the country. He wanted to enlist [in the IDF] and then he went to ulpan [a program to learn Hebrw] for five months. He wanted to enlist in the intelligence unit, but it didn't work out, so he served at Tel Hashomer. He felt that he had contributed."
"The family does not live in Israel, but they know the situation quite well," added the uncle. "They weren't afraid of terrorism, they weren't afraid. They were worried like any parent who lives far from their children. They wanted to let Elan do what he felt was best and didn't try to return him to the United States. They wanted to let him contribute to the country. He was on his way to his friend's wedding. He came to Israel for the wedding, but it was also an excuse to visit friends from the army and come visit us. I spoke to him yesterday. We talked about him coming to us on Shabbat. They toured by the Hexagon Pool and I told him to take care of himself and he said he would take care of himself."