Over 10,000 people attended the funeral for the three Solomon family victims of Palestinian terror who were savagely stabbed to death during their Shabbat meal at home.
More than 10,000 Israelis, including Housing Minister Yoav Galant, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, Communications Minister Ayoub Kara, Opposition Leader Yitzhak Herzog and a swath of MKs from the Labor, Likud and Jewish Home parties descended on the city of Modi’in for the joint funeral of Yosef, Chaya and Elad Salomon, who were butchered in their home in the Samaria town of Neve Tzuf-Halamish on Friday night.
Yosef Salmon’s wife, Tova, was seriously injured in the incident. Several other family members, who had gathered for Shabbat to celebrate a birth in the family, were home at the time of the attack but escaped unharmed.
Ran Menzli, who is married to one of the Salomon’s daughters, eulogized his sister-in-law Chaya as a heroine who used her last ounce of strength to stagger out of the house to call help after she had been fatally stabbed, thus preventing a greater tragedy.
He also spoke about Elad Salomon, whose middle name, Menachem, means “comforter,” and noted that the murders occurred ahead of the Hebrew month Av, traditionally a time for tragedy to strike the Jewish people. Menzli, before breaking down in tears, called his brother-in-law a “hero who fought the accursed terrorist” and prevented him from getting upstairs to murder more people.
‘How Do You Console Five Innocent Children?
“But how do you console five innocent children?… You gave your life for your wife, Michal, and the kids. We will take care of Michal, of Avinoam, of Reut, of Amitai, of the sweet baby twins Ariel and Avishai. Please pray to God that we have had enough suffering,” Menzli said.
Several hundred mourners formed a human chain from the Salomon home to the cemetery, with Israeli flags lining the winding road from Neve Tsuf towards the coastal plain.
Rabbi Yonatan Glass, spiritual leader of the community, eulogized the victims as a family centered “on spreading happiness.”
“Only a person with no glimmer of humanity could have acted against Yossi (Salomon) and his family. Yossi made everyone he was around happy. He was a generous donor, both to community causes and to poor families,” Glass said.
Solution: Israeli ‘Sovereignty’ over Judea and Samaria
Ahead of the funeral service, Rafi Mendel, the husband of one of the surviving sisters, said the appropriate reaction to the terror attack would be to annex Judea and Samaria.
“Please, God, grant your wisdom and understanding to our prime minister. It’s time to understand that we need to end the Palestinians’ illusions that they will ever have control over our land.
“It is time to impose our sovereignty over all of it,” Mendel said.
By: Andrew Friedman/TPS