Three years after the deadly shooting attack in which brothers Hallel Yaniv and Yigal Yaniv were murdered, family members, rabbis, and public figures gathered at the site of the attack in Huwara to hold a memorial ceremony in their memory.
The brothers, residents of Har Bracha, were killed in a terrorist shooting while driving through the village. Following the ceremony in Samaria, participants traveled to Jerusalem to visit the brothers’ graves at Mount Herzl.
The commemoration opened with a well-attended Mincha prayer at the site of the attack. Family members and rabbis then delivered remarks before the gathering continued to the cemetery in Jerusalem.
Speaking at the roadside memorial, the brothers’ father, Rabbi Shalom Yaniv, reflected on the spiritual meaning he finds amid the grief.
“On this road, the road back, our dear children rose up in a storm to heaven," he said, invoking the biblical story of Elijah. “Hallel and Yigal are two expressions of joy in Hebrew - joy of the land, the joy of the state, the joy of life. They lived with joy and planted within us longing - longing with hope, longing with renewal."
“There is room in the head for two tefillin," he added, “and room in the heart to carry opposites - sorrow and joy, longing and hope, a tear and renewal."
Their mother, Esti Yaniv, also spoke: “Here is where they rose up to heaven. Beloved Hallel and Yigal, you have found rest - and what about us? We cling to the good, performing small acts that are great. We came here today to pray, here we will be careful, shining like the brilliance of the firmament. In this beloved land of our forefathers, all hopes will yet be realized."
Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, the Rabbi of Samaria, said the family and community draw comfort from biblical prophecy and its modern fulfillment.
“We take consolation from the words spoken to our mother Rachel: ‘And the children shall return to their borders,’" he said. “We see this promise being fulfilled before our eyes through building and settlement across the Land of Israel. We do not sink into mourning alone - we lift our eyes to the future and believe in the strength of the people of Israel."
Also addressing the gathering was Samaria governor Yossi Dagan who spoke directly to the bereaved parents. "You are our teachers and our guides. I will never forget the moments after the bitter news, when Esti sent a message to the youth of Har Bracha: ‘Go distribute soup to the soldiers. Do something good.’"
“It was an incomprehensible encounter between the barbarity of the murderers and the purity of your response. The world is watching us. The answer to terror is building - more homes, more neighborhoods, more settlements. The murderers wanted us to be afraid and not to be here. The decisive answer is that we are here."
Dagan concluded by saluting Israel’s security forces and offering words of encouragement to the family of Sgt. Yonatan Luber, a cousin of Hallel and Yigal who was killed in action in Gaza ten months after the Huwara attack.
“We love you and admire you always," he said. “Together, we will grow stronger and prevail."