Ronen Hanania, victim of Kiryat Arba terror attack, laid to rest in Jerusalem
‘My dear husband was such a good person who enjoyed helping others,’ eulogizes his wife, Merav, at funeral ceremony from which members of current government were barred
Ronen Hanania, the man who was shot dead in a terror attack Saturday night near the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, was laid to rest in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon.
The funeral took place at Har Hamenuhot Cemetery in the capital. According to the Ynet news site, the deceased’s family asked that members of the current government not attend the ceremony, but welcomed members of the right-wing opposition.
In tears, Hanania’s wife, Merav, said her late husband was meant to celebrate his birthday later this week.
“My dear husband was such a good person who enjoyed helping others. Everyone loved him, everyone,” she said. “He was such a good person to me and my son. I can’t accept it, I have nothing else in this life, only my son. Thank God, at least he was saved. I have nothing. I’m worth nothing. My husband will live on, he won’t leave me. His birthday is on Wednesday, we’ll always be together.”
Their son, Daniel, who was wounded in the same attack and witnessed his father’s death, called on Israeli lawmakers to ensure such an incident never repeats itself.
“I can’t believe that I’m standing here. God gave me a miracle. Dad, you died while doing God’s work and I will keep living while doing God’s work,” he said. “I call on the Israeli government to do everything to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir was among the politicians to attend Hanania’s funeral.
“‘The bounder, the bound, and the altar,’ that is our story,” Ben Gvir said at the funeral, citing a Rosh Hashanah prayer. “That is Ronen’s story and the story of the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba — of terrorists’ bullets flying past us, sometimes hitting their target.”
The firebrand MK recalled that Hanania “moved to live in Kiryat Arba a few years ago. Since then, his soul stayed there… no one was happier than he was… Ronen always tried to help and defend everyone around him, but this time, the bullets managed to hit him.”
“For 2,000 years, Jews everywhere prayed for the same thing. For 2,000 years, year after year, for the next year in Jerusalem. And we’re part of the generation that made that dream come true. We’re living the dream Jews dreamed of for 2,000 years,” said MK Amir Ohana of Likud, during the funeral proceedings.
“But this dream comes with a price, a heavy price. And today, we’re paying that price. Ronen, Jews dreamed about Jerusalem for 2,000 years. May you rest forever in Jerusalem,” Ohana added.
Hanania and his son Daniel were shot Saturday evening while visiting a convenience store located between Kiryat Arba and the adjacent city of Hebron. When they returned to their car to leave, the attacker “opened fire on us from the left,” Daniel recalled Sunday morning.
The attacker was identified as Muhammed Kamel al-Jabari, an apparent member of the Hamas terror group. After shooting Hanania and his son, Jabari opened fire on medics and settlement security guards who arrived at the scene to help the pair.
In all, Jabari wounded three other people, one of them seriously — a medic. A Palestinian man was also among the injured.
Israel Defense Forces chief Aviv Kohavi visited the scene of the attack on Sunday morning as part of a preliminary investigation. He also held a situational assessment with local commanders.
In a separate incident on Sunday, a Palestinian driver plowed his vehicle into Israeli soldiers at two locations south of the West Bank city of Jericho, injuring five of them before being shot.
The attacks came amid heightened tensions in the West Bank.
In recent months, Palestinian gunmen have repeatedly targeted military posts, troops operating along the West Bank security barrier, Israeli settlements, and civilians on the roads.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
