Family of rabbi killed in terror attack urges public to attend funeral

The family of a West Bank rabbi killed Friday in a terror attack near Hebron called on the public to pay their respects at his funeral Sunday morning.

“He wasn’t just our father, he was a father to so many people,” one of Rabbi Miki Mark’s daughters said in a video eulogy in which she exhorted people to turn out.

“Everyone will hear something good about what dad was,” another daughter said, “and take that good and be better people.”

A service will be held on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Otniel Yeshiva where Mark will be eulogized. Afterward, he will be laid to rest at the Har Hamenuhot cemetery in Jerusalem.

Mark was killed when his car was shot at by suspected Palestinian terrorists in a passing car as he was driving on Route 60 in the southern West Bank, forcing him off the road, where his car overturned. His wife and two children who were in the car were injured in the attack.

Tehilla, Mark’s 14-year-old daughter, who was moderately injured in the shooting, will leave the hospital by ambulance to attend the funeral, Walla news reported.

Mark’s wife was still hospitalized Sunday morning with serious injuries.

Hava Mark’s condition was stabilized but she was still in an induced coma, the head of the trauma unit at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, where she was taken said Saturday.

A 15-year-old son, Pedaya, was also lightly injured in the attack.

Mark, 48, was the director of the yeshiva in the settlement of Otniel. A father of 10 and the cousin of Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, he had lived in the settlement with his family for years.

President Reuven Rivlin will deliver a eulogy for Mark at the funeral, his office announced Saturday.

An initial investigation indicated the terrorists passed the Marks’ car with their vehicle, then opened fire at them. Officials said over 20 bullet holes were found in their car.

On Saturday, the IDF arrested several suspects in the Hebron area as part of the hunt for those responsible for the attack, which was the second deadly incident in the area in as many days.

On Thursday, Hallel Yaffa Ariel,13, was killed by a Palestinian stabber who entered her home at the Kiryat Arba settlement adjacent to Hebron.