Thousands at funeral for teenage son of film director killed in hit-and-run
Remand extended to Tuesday for driver, Premier League soccer player Itzhak Asefa, as Ari Nesher, 17, buried in Moshav Udim cemetery; family has donated his organs
Thousands of Israeli mourners attended the funeral on Sunday of 17-year-old Ari Nesher, the son of acclaimed Israeli director Avi Nesher, who was killed in a Tel Aviv hit-and-run last week.
Ari Nesher and a friend were riding on an electric bike on the city’s northern Rokach Boulevard early Monday morning when they were hit by Israeli Premier League soccer player Itzhak Asefa, who subsequently fled the scene. Nesher sustained serious head injuries and died Thursday.
“In a few moments we will bury the body of our child,” said Avi Nesher at the Moshav Udim cemetery, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth daily. “I would pay any price to be his shoes, and be buried in his place.”
“I do not make films with absolutely good endings, but for myself I don’t like absolutely bad endings either, because life is hard enough,” he added.
“Over the years I called him ‘magic’ because that’s what he was — magic,” Iris Nesher, Ari’s mother, said. “When we arrived at the hospital there was nothing for us to do but to hope for a miracle.”
Asefa’s remand was extended until Tuesday, following police questioning Saturday after meeting with his new lawyer, who was appointed by his soccer team F.C. Ashdod.
Following the announcement of Nesher’s death, Hadashot news reported that police are planning at Asefa’s next remand extension hearing to upgrade the charges against him to murder, for which he could serve up to 20 years.
The television station reported Sunday that Asefa has not confessed to hitting Nesher, citing police sources.
After Nesher died, the family announced that they would donate his organs to honor Ari, who had been a volunteer with the Magen David Adom rescue service and had always worked to help others.
“From a belief that there is nothing more important than saving lives, the Nesher family, with exceptional nobility at this most difficult time, decided to donate Ari’s organs with the hope of saving others,” the transplant center said.
His heart was donated to a 60-year-old man whose condition had deteriorated rapidly in recent days. His lungs went to a man, 50, at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah and the liver was transplanted into a 36-year-old in Tel Aviv.
One kidney went to save a 17-year old at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center and another was transplanted into a 10-year-old boy in Haifa. His corneas would be transplanted in the coming days, the center said.
In a statement shortly after his death, Nesher’s family said their son had celebrated his 17th birthday surrounded by loved ones at the hospital.
“Our Ari was not just a handsome boy. He was a talented, curious, witty and happy child,” his family eulogized.
“He was a gifted young filmmaker and always tried to help anyone in need. Ari dreamed of being a paramedic in the army, and last year he volunteered every week with Magen David Adom.”
“From an early age, Ari evoked in everyone around him the desire to live and rejoice and take part in this wonderful thing called life,” they said.
The second teenager injured in the accident was taken to Petah Tikva’s Beilinson Hospital, where he is recovering from moderate injuries.
Asefa was arrested shortly thereafter by police who said his blood alcohol level was found to be five times the legal limit.
According to a Wednesday Hadashot news report, Asefa and seven other friends had purchased three bottles of vodka and won an extra bottle at a club they visited the night of the accident.
It remained unclear whether Asefa himself drank from that alcohol before getting into his car and hitting Nesher. While police said they deemed that he had alcohol in his system upon his arrest, it is possible that he had consumed it after fleeing the scene.
Authorities said they were still questioning Asefa’s friends and witnesses at the bar to confirm the soccer players’ conduct that evening.
