Emotional, Shaar’s sister says brother was ‘destined to be a hero’

At the funeral of slain yeshiva student Gil-ad Shaar in Talmon, his sister Shirel needs a few minutes to calm herself before she can eulogize her only brother, whose body was found buried in a shallow grave near Hebron yesterday.

“I don’t even know how he felt or what he thought as he fought for his life,” she says.

Emotionally, she recalls the last time she saw her brother, at their grandmother’s house. Just before she left the house, something told her she should give him a hug, she says.

“We’ve been through something huge these past two weeks,” she says. “Everyone has brothers and sisters. Do something — be good siblings. I always worried about Gil-ad. There, God, you’ve lifted one of my worries now. I know he’s safe by your side.”

To her brother, she says, “You are joining a long list of heroes of Israel, not by choice, but by destiny. I hope you will be the last ones on the list. Forever, Gil-ad. I will remember you forever.”