3 Israeli children killed by Palestinian driver

The head of the Samaria Council Yossi Dagan called on the government to improve the roads in Judea and Samaria after years of under-budgeting.

By Aryeh Savir/TPS

Halleli, Tov Roi, and Malachi Meudad, three Israeli children who were killed in a car accident in Samaria on Friday afternoon, were laid to rest on Saturday night together at the cemetery in Rehovot, as their two parents were still hospitalized in critical condition.

An Arab driver from the Palestinian Authority driving without a license, who was driving a car that was not licensed and was supposed to be off the road, made a U-turn at an illegal point on the road near the Ofarim Junction, colliding with the Meudad family’s car.

The Father, Yaniv, and mother Hodaya, who was pregnant, are hospitalized in serious condition The father’s condition stabilized slightly over the weekend but he is still on life support. The boy Tov Roi, 3, was killed immediately. His sister Halleli, 6, passed away on Saturday. Their brother, who died at birth on Saturday, was named Malachi.

The rabbi of Nof Ayalon, Gideon Binyamin, said during the funeral that “there are no words, nothing to say. Something that has no explanation. These children are now going to the heavens, will be under the Kisseh Hakavod (chair of honor), will learn, will give a lot of strength to the parents who, with God’s help, will be healed.”

The two Arabs in the illegal car were killed in the accident.

The head of the Samaria Council Yossi Dagan called on the government to improve the roads in Judea and Samaria after years of under-budgeting.

Dagan said that “in the midst of the Festival of Lights [Chanukah], such a great light is extinguished, the whole family of Samaria and the whole nation of Israel mourns with the families. The heart is broken for the tender children, all the people of Israel pray for the healing of the hospitalized parents.”

Dagan noted that “in recent years there has been some improvement but many roads still do not meet any minimum standards. The lack of enforcement and deterrence against drivers from the Palestinian Authority, many of whom drive vehicles that are not supposed to be on the road and without a license, is a situation that needs to change immediately for the benefit of all passengers on the road.”