Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon vows the Israeli security forces “will not rest” until the operatives behind the deaths of the teenagers are brought to justice. Speaking at the funeral for Eyal Yifrach, 19, in Elad, the defense minister says the teenagers “were kidnapped and murdered just because they were Jews.”
“The grief and agony that envelops you since receiving the bitter news, envelops the entire country,” he says, after the recitation of a Natan Alterman poem.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon delivering a eulogy to Eyal Yifrach in Elad Tuesday. (Screen capture: Channel 2)
“In the past three weeks that have passed since the kidnapping of Eyal, Gil-ad, and Naftali, we discovered daily a bit more about their unique personalities: Their warm and loving connection to their families, their hobbies that were their trademark among the families and friends, all the small things that remind us, at the end of the day, that they were youngsters at the beginning of their lives, which was cut short.”
The defense minister addresses the Yifrach family directly, saying “these are the hours when the personal grief is in the public domain.”
Ya’alon says he had the “privilege” of meeting the Yifrach family during these tumultuous, difficult times, who embody “all that is good and noble,” and are “a symbol for us all.”
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Tuesday, July 1, 2014
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