Hadar was a hero, president tells family of slain policewoman

President Reuven Rivlin paid tribute on Monday to Hadar Cohen, the novice policewoman killed in Jerusalem last week as she fought off three Palestinian terrorists armed with guns and knives, praising her bravery and heroism during a condolence visit to her parents’ home.

“Hadar and those who were by her side threw themselves in the way of the terrorists,” Rivlin told Hadar’s father. “Our hearts are with you, we are proud of your children who unwaveringly keep watch over us.”

He added: “When you saluted your daughter by her graveside, the whole people saluted with you.”

Deployed at Damascus Gate only two months after being drafted into the Border Police, Cohen was part of a three-person squad that spotted three Palestinians behaving in a suspicious manner and asked to see their identification papers. As one attacker withdrew his ID card, the others opened fire and pulled out knives to attack the officers. The three were shot dead by officers at the scene.

“They say to me Hadar is a heroine of Israel,” her father told the president.

“I think of the many people she saved. If she had lived, you would have come to shake her hand for her courage, but instead we are sitting in mourning, here, where just months ago we celebrated her recruitment into national service.”

Hadar’s mother Sigalia told Rivlin that her daughter had always want to be an Israeli warrior.

“Hadar had dreamed from a young age of being a combat soldier, and she realized that dream. I hope that I will be the last bereaved mother, and that no family should know such pain,” she said.