Israeli Embassy spokesperson Tal Naim was with Ambassador Yechiel Leiter in New York when he learned that his son Neria had been critically wounded in a terrorist attack: "One of the hardest" moments of her three years in Washington.
Tal Naim, spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, on Wednesday recounted the moment Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, received the news that his son Neria had been critically wounded in a terrorist attack.
Naim was accompanying Leiter in New York for media appearances surrounding the United Nations General Assembly when the Ambassador received the news.
"Being the spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington over the past three years has been one of the most challenging and demanding experiences of my life," Naim wrote. "It has meant navigating crisis after crisis, and facing moments I never could have imagined."
"One of the hardest came this morning."
Naim said she and Leiter had been on their way to an interview concerning the UN General Assembly when he was informed that his son had been wounded.
"I was with Ambassador Yechiel Leiter in New York, on our way to an interview about the UNGA, when he received the devastating news that his son, Neria, had been injured in a terror attack," she wrote.
"Just moments earlier, we had been preparing for a full day of interviews."
Naim noted that in Leiter's final interview before receiving the news, he had spoken about the price Israeli families have paid during the war.
During the Newsmax interview, the Ambassador discussed Israel's decision to send ground forces into combat rather than relying exclusively on large-scale aerial attacks, arguing that Israeli soldiers had consequently paid a heavy price.
"We sent in our troops on the ground to prevent mass bombings, we lost our children because of this, and still get accused of committing a genocide," Leiter said.
According to Naim, the Ambassador made the remark at approximately the same time that the terrorist attack against his son was taking place.
Naim also recalled the tragedy the Leiter family had already endured during the war. The Ambassador's eldest son, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, was killed while fighting in the northern Gaza Strip nearly three years ago.
"The Ambassador has already endured the unimaginable loss of his eldest son, Moshe, who was killed in Gaza almost three years ago," she wrote.
Neria, an IDF reservist who continued serving following his brother's death, was critically wounded in Wednesday's ramming attack in Binyamin. He was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where doctors are fighting to save his life.
Following news of the attack, Ambassador Leiter cut short his schedule in New York and began making his way back to Israel.
Naim concluded her statement with an appeal for prayers for Neria and his family.
"Please keep Neria, and the entire Leiter family, in your thoughts and prayers."