Mother of 6 killed in terror attack laid to rest

Horgan, a couples’ counselor by profession and mother of six, was found dead in the Reihan Forest near her home on Monday.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Esther Horgan was laid to rest Tuesday morning in the Shaked cemetery, near Tal Menashe in northern Judea and Samaria. In accordance with Jewish law, Horgan was buried within 24 hours of the discovery of her body.

Horgan, a couples’ counselor by profession and mother of six, was found dead in the Reihan Forest near her home on Monday. Her husband called the police after she failed to return home from a jog on Sunday evening.

Her body was found with “signs of violence,” paramedic Assaf Tapuhi told Ynet.

A statement from the Samaria Regional Council said that Horgan was killed in a terrorist attack and that “she was found with her skull bashed in.”

Residents of Tal Menashe formed a human chain stretching from the community to the graveyard. Minister of Settlement Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) and MKs Betzalel Smotrich (Yemina) and Nir Barkat (Likud) were among the hundreds who attended the funeral.

“Esther went for a walk in nature, which she loved so much,” said Horgan’s husband, Benjamin. “She was not going off on an adventure, but [for] a routine walk, like a person does in any normal place in the country, and did not return.”

Defense Minister Benny Gantz vowed that Israel would bring Horgan’s murderer to justice.

“I send my deepest sympathies to the Horgan family on the horrific murder of Esther, of blessed memory,” Gantz said in a statement.

“Israel’s security forces are working to find the despicable murderer and take him promptly into custody. We will never accept a reality in which human life becomes dispensable.”

On Monday evening, a Palestinian teenager attempted to shoot at Israeli security officers stationed at the Temple Mount. The teenager was killed and the officers were unharmed.

Last week, a Palestinian man threw a Molotov cocktail at a Golani Brigade soldier outside of the Kdumim Junction in Judea and Samaria.