One child has cerebral palsy, another has muscular dystrophy

Over NIS 600,000 raised for disabled wife, kids of man killed in parking dispute

Nearly 3,000 people donate to family of Ofir Hasdai, who was gunned down in parking lot of Ramle mall

By ToI Staff 29 July 2019, 4:27 pm

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Ofir Hasdai, his wife Dikla and two of their three daughters. Hasdai was shot dead in a dispute over a parking spot on July 28, 2019 (courtesy: Facebook)

An online fundraising campaign for the wife and children of a man shot dead in parking dispute in central Israel on Sunday has raised over NIS 600,000 ($170,000) within hours.

By Monday evening, nearly 3,000 donors raised more than half of the NIS 1,000,000 ($285,000) goal set out for the Hasdai family on the Jgive crowdfunding platform.

Ofir Hasdai, 40, was trying to park in a disabled spot at Ramle’s Azrieli mall on Sunday afternoon on behalf of his wife, who has muscular dystrophy. There, a fight broke out with a fellow driver over the parking space, and Ofir Hasdai was gunned down in the mall parking lot in front of his wife and three daughters.

Police arrested a suspect in the shooting, a 74-year-old resident of the nearby town of Lod, who was identified on Monday as Victor Katan. He was brought before a judge and remanded on Monday on suspicion of murder. According to Channel 13, the suspected gunman was claiming self-defense, citing the fight that broke out over the parking spot.

Dikla Hasdai told Israeli media outlets the couple have three children: nine-year-old twins, one of whom has cerebral palsy, and an 18-month-old who suffers from muscular dystrophy who needs to use a respirator. Their third daughter is not disabled.

She said her husband was the sole breadwinner for the family. “I have no idea how I’ll manage alone,” Dikla Hasdai said in interviews with several news outlets as she appealed for help. “He did everything.”

Hasdai told Channel 12 on Monday that her husband approached Katan in the parking lot to ask him to move his vehicle, which was parked over two handicapped spots. A fight subsequently broke out between him and Katan’s wife, who began hitting Hasdai with her handbag, she said. Katan then took out a weapon and shot Hasdai in the foot and, moments later, in the chest, according to her account.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday condemned the “shocking” killing of the father of three.

“Ofir Hasdai’s terrible murder is shocking to all of us. A father gunned down over a parking space,” the prime minister posted on Twitter. “This is terrible… There is no place for violence in our society, and we will not tolerate it.”

Netanyahu said that welfare authorities would help the Hasdais, and called the online initiative set up to help the family a “very moving” response to the violence.