Tal Winkelstein recounts the chilling phone call from her 10-year-old son Naveh, who informed her about the murder of her husband, his father, Elad Winkelstein, in a terror attack on Monday in the PA town of Funduq in Samaria.
"I was at home in Ein HaNatziv and received a call from Elad's number," Tal said in an interview with Ynet. "Naveh was on the line and told me calmly, 'Daddy is dead, 'Daddy is dead, no, really, they shot him','" she recounted in pain.
She added, "I felt my hands drop, and I sat on the couch. I called the police because I realized it was happening in real-time and that I would be the one reporting it. While doing so, I understood that a Jewish person had taken Naveh under his care, that he was in good hands, and that all possible emergency forces were on their way to the scene. Initially, I thought maybe Naveh didn't understand, and I waited several minutes for a call from Elad to say everything was okay. Then, deep inside, I realized the worst had come to my home. What I feared the most had happened."
The couple married three years ago and have a son, Omer, a year and nine months old. Naveh is Elad's eldest son and is 10 years old.
The couple lived for two years in Kedumim, where Elad formerly served as the community security officer. "I hated Funduq and the entire area because of the danger. I felt that attacks occurred frequently, and the question was not if, but when, so I wanted to get out of there, and we chose a calm and green area. I was always afraid for Omer and myself, convinced nothing bad would happen to Elad. He feared nothing, was small and thin, athletic, physically and mentally strong, and confident," she continued.
She further conveyed, "I thought that because Elad was a police officer, I was exempt from dealing with reserve duty wives' challenges and would never hear the dreaded knock at the door. I have joined the widows in black. It's sad and bizarre that the exact disaster I feared for years happened in precisely the place I was afraid of."
The attack occurred when terrorists opened fire from a passing car at a bus and a car on Route 55 in Funduq, between Karnei Shomron and Kedumim.
In addition to Elad Winkelstein, Rachel Cohen (73) and Aliza Rize (70), residents of Kedumim, were killed in the attack. Cohen was an educational counselor until her retirement, leaving behind a husband and five daughters. Rize worked as an educational counselor and left behind several children and family members.
Large army forces that arrived at the incident's site began a manhunt for the perpetrators' vehicle that fled the scene, while roadblocks and closures were imposed on Shechem and other nearby PA villages. The terrorists have not yet been apprehended.