Throngs of mourners honor Israeli victims of Har Adar terror attack

Three Israelis cut down by a Palestinian terrorist Tuesday morning received loving tributes from family, friends and government officials.

While the victims of a coldblooded terror attack on Tuesday came from disparate backgrounds, they arrived in Har Adar, outside Jerusalem, Tuesday morning to protect Israelis and Arabs who live and work in the area. The three men, Solomon Gavriyah, 20, Youssef Ottman, 25, and Or Arish, 25, served in a security detail admitting Arabs employed by the the village for various jobs.

The three Israelis were gunned down by one of these workers, 37-year-old Nimr Mahmoud Ahmed Jamal, from the village of Beit Sureik, near Ramallah, who had a work permit and had been employed in the Jewish town for seven years. Security forces eliminated the terrorist.

In the Israeli town of Beer Yaakov, Gavriyah was laid to rest in a military cemetery, with hundreds squeezing into the grounds to mourn his passing. Gavriyah arrived in Israel as a young boy from Ethiopia in 1999 and was eulogized by his girlfriend, who remembered him as “always the best, the most helpful, the most distinguished, … my hero,” reported Ynet.

‘You Were the Pride of our Family’

Gavriyah’s sister also spoke briefly, before emotions overcame her, addressing her fallen brother, “You were the pride of our family. You were an inspiration to all of us. I don’t know how we can go on without you,” the Times of Israel reported.

In addition to family and friends, officials including Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich saluted Gavriyah at the funeral, which ended with a 21-gun salute.

Arish, who was a Har Adar resident, was laid to rest at a funeral in Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul Cemetery. That funeral was not open to the media.

Ottman was buried at a cemetery in the town of Abu Ghosh, outside of Jerusalem, following prayer services in a local mosque.

Terrorist’s Advantage: He Knew his Victim

Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev, who spoke at the burial ceremony, praised Ottman for protecting lives in the face of “cowardly” terrorism, Times of Israel reported.

Regev noted Ottman had served as an IDF combat soldier, and had “he had a chance to fight fairly, he would have won,” but the terrorist had taken advantage of the fact that Ottman knew him, and was able to get close before drawing his weapon and killing him, according to the Times.

Gavriyah and Ottman were no strangers to terrorism before the fatal attack. Gavriyah was injured in a stabbing attack in October 2016 close to Mevaseret Zion, a Jerusalem suburb, and Ottman’s cousin lost his life in a Jerusalem terror attack.

By: Ebin Sandler, World Israel News