Following work by Minister of Religious Affairs Michael Malkieli and the Ministry Director General Yehuda Avidan, on Monday, David Ben-Avraham, the convert who was accidentally killed by an IDF soldier in Gush Etzion, will be laid to rest in a Jewish grave in a cemetery in Samaria.
Three weeks ago, David Ben-Avraham, a Palestinian-born convert to Judaism, came to the Elazar Junction in Gush Etzion. Soldiers at the scene wrongly suspected him of being a terrorist, and after finding a knife in his bag, shot and killed him.
After Ben-Avraham's death, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel posthumously recognized him as an Israeli citizen. Following the decision to recognize him as an Israeli citizen, Minister of Religious Affairs Michael Malkieli instructed Ministry Director General Yehuda Avidan to work to bring him to burial as a Jew.
After intensive work with Deputy Attorney Generals Orit Kotav and Carmit Yulis, and with the support of Chief Rabbi David Lau and the Rabbi of Kiryat Arba Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Shwartz, a plan was laid out to allow him to be buried in a Jewish grave.
In continuation of the work, the Tel Aviv Family Court answered the request of those close to the convert's family and adopted the ruling which allows him to be buried in a Jewish grave.
Minister of Religious Affairs Michael Malkieli stated: "The tragic way in which the convert David Ben-Avraham's life ended obligates us to ensure a Jewish burial at the least, in accordance with Halacha for a man who tied his fate with the fate of the Jewish people."
Ministry of Religious Affairs Director General Yehuda Avidan stated: "I wish to thank all those involved who dealt with all the halachic and legal issues involved in the burial of the convert. Amid this difficult and painful tragedy, there is a bit of consolation that will be buried in a Jewish grave as a member of the people of Israel."