Days after deadly West Bank bombing, father of slain teen released from hospital

Rabbi Eitan Shnerb urges Israelis to ‘spread light for Rina,’ who was killed in a terrorist attack last week

Rabbi Eitan Shnerb speaks to the media at the Hadassah Medical Center Ein Kerem, a day after being wounded in a terrorist bombing near Dolev that killed his daughter Rina and wounded his son Dvir, August 24, 2019. (Flash90)
Rabbi Eitan Shnerb speaks to the media at the Hadassah Medical Center Ein Kerem, a day after being wounded in a terrorist bombing near Dolev that killed his daughter Rina and wounded his son Dvir, August 24, 2019. (Flash90)

Rabbi Eitan Shnerb, who was wounded in an explosion at a natural spring near the Dolev settlement that killed his teenage daughter on Friday, was released from the hospital on Wednesday.

Shnerb’s 17-year old daughter Rina was killed in the terror bombing in the West Bank, and his son, Dvir, was injured.

“I said I will continue to spread light for Rina and over the last few days it’s unbelievable how much light has been spread,” the Walla news site quoted Shnerb as saying. “I told Rina during the attack ‘I won’t ever leave you.’ I knew she was dead, but I said that we will continue to spread light for her.”

Thanking his doctors at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, who he said were engaged in “holy work” as were Israel’s security services, who were working “to catch the killers,” the rabbi called for greater unity among Jews and an increased commitment to Torah.

Rina Shnerb, 17, who was killed in a terror attack in the West Bank on August 23, 2019 (courtesy)

Shnerb’s son Dvir remains hospitalized but is “progressing very, very nicely,” he said.

Prior to his discharge, Shnerb met with President Reuven Rivlin, who later took to Twitter to write that the rabbi’s spirit “and of the whole family, gives us such strength.”

Shnerb said his family took solace in the outpouring of support they have received.

“Our people are strong and we want to strengthen you too, Mr. President. We are all so strong and pray for the peace of the world and above all for our children’s safety,” he was quoted saying.

“It is clear to me that if we do not love each other, we have no chance,” Shnerb added.

Also Monday, Yamina party leader Ayelet Shaked visited with Rina’s mother Shira as the family observed shiva, the traditional seven-day Jewish mourning period.

Mourners carry the body of 17-year-old Israeli Rina Shnerb, who was killed by a bomb in a terror attack while visiting a spring near Dolev in the West Bank, during her funeral in the city of Lod on August 23, 2019. (Jack Guez/AFP)

As they met, Shaked tweeted they were informed the terrorists behind the bombing had been captured. Yisrael Beytenu party head Avigdor Liberman put out a similar tweet, but the Shin Bet security service released a statement saying the investigation was ongoing, and did not confirm the culprits had been caught.

The army has made several arrests as it hunts for the terrorist cell responsible for the attack, which was carried out with a remotely detonated explosive device.

The explosion Friday occurred at a spring — a popular hiking spot — approximately 10 kilometers east of the city of Modiin.

Shnerb and his son were unable to attend Rina’s funeral Friday because of their wounds, but Eitan addressed the ceremony by phone saying that “we are trying to be strong here in the Land of Israel, the people of Israel, Rina believed in that.”

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