Mourners praise victim who took on terrorists unarmed

During the Thursday funeral for an Israeli man who was accidentally shot dead by police during a terror attack, mourners spoke of a courageous father who took on two stabbers despite being unarmed.

Ofer Ben Ari, 46, a married father of two daughters, was hit by gunfire Wednesday outside the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City as two Border Police women shot at the Palestinian terrorists, who were attacking Israeli passersby.

Rabbi Reuben Birmajer, a father of seven and member of the faculty at the Aish Hatorah yeshiva, also died after suffering deep stab wounds in the attack.

Along with hundreds of well-wishers at the funeral for Ben Ari was Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabai, who was a childhood friend of Ben Ari, as well Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. Ben Ari was laid to rest in the Har Hamenuhot cemetery in the capital’s Givat Shaul neighborhood.

An initial police investigation found that Ben Ari accosted the terrorists and struggled with them. The Border Police officers, who arrived shortly after the attack, began fired at the terrorists and a stray bullet hit Ben Ari, killing him. One of the terrorists died at the scene, while the second was evacuated to a hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.

Police said Ben Ari acted as a citizen should and displayed “great courage.”

Speaking at the Shamgar funeral parlor in Jerusalem, Ben Ari’s widow, Yifat, lamented the suddenness with which her husband was taken from her.

“My dear husband, I didn’t manage to say goodbye to you,” she said, and quoted a biblical phrase referring to merciful attributes of God. “You were merciful, slow to anger and abundant in goodness. Those were your characteristics. We are left dumbstruck and a deep void has opened within us. We never dreamed that one bullet could take your life. You fought and what is left to us as testimony is unbounded love. No terrorist will take [from us] what you left.

“My dear husband, you gave me happiness and satisfaction,” she continued. “I promise to follow in your path. I appeal to you, my dear God. I am sending you a pure and clean angel and ask you to hasten the redemption for your persecuted and holy people.

“I grew up with Ofer,” recalled Gabai, the environmental protection minister. “He was always a brave person. You were always first, caring. It is easy to imagine how, when you saw the commotion, you sprang into action.”

“The only comfort for the family is that Ofer prevented a worse attack,” he added.

“Ofer was a true Jerusalemite through and through,” Mayor Barkat said. “We need to use an iron fist against the terrorists and those who send them. The courageous heart of Ofer, who went into action bare-handed, is a testimony to the determination of the Israeli people.”

Yifat Ben Ari offered words of encouragement for the public in the face of the ongoing wave of Palestinian attacks.

“It doesn’t matter how many they take from us, and how much hope and determination is lost — we must continue to be a guiding light,” she said.

Birmajer, the second casualty of the attack, was buried late Wednesday at Har Hamenuhot.