Widow of IDF soldier killed by friendly fire to shooter: ‘Be strong’

“We’re sending you strength,” Or Elharrar says to soldier who fatally shot her husband in friendly fire incident.

By World Israel News Staff

The wife of IDF Major Itamar Elharrar told Hebrew-language media that she is not angry at the soldier who shot and killed her husband and another soldier during a friendly fire incident last week.

Elharrar’s widow, Or, told Channel 12 News that if she had the opportunity to speak to the shooter, she would want him to know that she does not hold any ill will towards him.

“I would like first of all for him to know that we are not angry, that we are all sending him a lot of strength,” she said.

“I pray and hope he finds a place to draw from them. I try to think if the situation were the opposite – if today I was here with a husband, I would like him to continue living.”

Last Thursday, Elharrar and Major Ofek Aharon, both commanders in the elite Egoz unit, were returning to their Jordan Valley base after a drill when they spotted a potential terror suspect loitering around the perimeter.

Elharrar and Ofek ordered the suspect to stop and fired warning shots into the air.

Another soldier from their unit heard the gunfire, and misidentified the two officers as the terror suspects, shooting and killing them.

As the investigation into the tragic incident unfolds, Elharrar’s widow said she is focusing on the outpouring of love and support she has received from the Israeli public.

“There have been lots and lots of messages, support and hugs from people I have no idea who they are and I have never met them,” she told Channel 12 News.

Elharrar added that she wanted people to remember the person her husband was, not just the way that he died.

“It’s especially important for me to say who he was and what he meant for me and for his relatives, how much he loved the country,” she said.

“His parents and siblings were everything to him. I think he got all of his values from there.”