Funerals took place last night for two young security guards who were accidentally killed yesterday by Israeli troops who mistook them for terrorists. The two victims were 2nd-Lt. Yoav Doron, 23, of Jerusalem, and Yehuda Ben-Yosef, 21, from the Mitzpeh Nevo neighborhood of Maaleh Adumim. The two were friends and served together in the IDF's Egoz commando unit.
Troops in the area had been on heightened alert because of terrorist warnings in the area, and when they saw the two armed guards in a car, they began yelling at them to stop - in Arabic. At this point, both "sides" thought they were facing Palestinian terrorists. The two victims tried to get away, and Yehuda was immediately shot and killed. Yoav radioed to the local emergency center that he and his friend were under attack by terrorists dressed as soldiers, but a helicopter called to the scene killed him with an all-too-accurate missile strike only seconds later.
Yehuda Ben-Yosef is survived by his sisters, one of whom is to be married two weeks from now, his brothers, and his parents Devorah and Baruch - an attorney for Jonathan Pollard. He completed his army service only a few days ago, but managed to shoot and kill the Hamas commander in Jenin on his last night of active duty. Yoav, of Har Nof, studied in Yeshivat Shavei Hevron before enlisting in the army. He was on the verge of completing his service, but received a call a few days ago asking him to return to take command of a group.
A spokesman for the Jewish Community of Hevron, near where the killings took place, issued a statement yesterday saying, "It must be remembered that those responsible for today's tragedy are not the IDF, [rather] those responsible include Yasser Arafat and his terrorist forces who brought this war upon us…"
Troops in the area had been on heightened alert because of terrorist warnings in the area, and when they saw the two armed guards in a car, they began yelling at them to stop - in Arabic. At this point, both "sides" thought they were facing Palestinian terrorists. The two victims tried to get away, and Yehuda was immediately shot and killed. Yoav radioed to the local emergency center that he and his friend were under attack by terrorists dressed as soldiers, but a helicopter called to the scene killed him with an all-too-accurate missile strike only seconds later.
Yehuda Ben-Yosef is survived by his sisters, one of whom is to be married two weeks from now, his brothers, and his parents Devorah and Baruch - an attorney for Jonathan Pollard. He completed his army service only a few days ago, but managed to shoot and kill the Hamas commander in Jenin on his last night of active duty. Yoav, of Har Nof, studied in Yeshivat Shavei Hevron before enlisting in the army. He was on the verge of completing his service, but received a call a few days ago asking him to return to take command of a group.
A spokesman for the Jewish Community of Hevron, near where the killings took place, issued a statement yesterday saying, "It must be remembered that those responsible for today's tragedy are not the IDF, [rather] those responsible include Yasser Arafat and his terrorist forces who brought this war upon us…"