Woman who died during Sarona shooting ruled a terror victim
Family of Ilana Naveh, who may have been killed by a fatal heart attack at Sarona, will receive state benefits
The Defense Ministry on Tuesday confirmed that Ilana Naveh, who is thought to have had a fatal heart attack during last week’s terror attack in Tel Aviv, will be awarded the status of terror victim.
The step means that the Naveh family will now be entitled to the same state benefits as the relatives of those who were killed in a terrorist attack.
The family of the Orthodox 39-year-old mother of four last week had refused to allow a postmortem on her body on religious grounds. The High Court overnight Thursday-Friday subsequently rejected a police request to perform an autopsy.
Police had argued that it was not immediately clear if Naveh had been killed by gunfire in the Sarona Market terror attack, with media reports suggesting she may have died of a heart attack at the scene. Three other Israelis were shot dead in the attack.
“I’m amazed at this whole story. The litigation was unnecessary and unimportant,” Guy Nof, the family’s attorney, told Channel 2 on Friday. “She definitely died as a result of the terror attack, she just didn’t get hit by the bullets. She collapsed on the scene.
“The terrorists came with the intention to murder people; they caused the incident during which she died. This is quintessential murder.”
Naveh was buried at Yarkon cemetery in Petah Tikva on Friday, in a ceremony attended by hundreds.
“I wanted to believe that when they took me to the hospital it would be okay,” said Shiran Naveh, one of 39-year-old Naveh’s four daughters, at the funeral, the Ynet news website reported. “They told me in the morning [that you had died], but it didn’t surprise me, I already knew that night. I wanted to them to wake me from this nightmare, tell me that it didn’t really happen, but it’s not a dream, it’s real.”
She continued: “Give me the strength to fill your massive shoes. I promise to do it in the best way possible. Watch over us, mom, we love you very much.”
The funerals for two other Sarona Market terror victims were also held Friday.
Mila Mishayev, 32, from Rishon Lezion, was buried Friday afternoon in Ashkelon. Mishayev was set to be married in the near future. She was waiting in the restaurant for her boyfriend when the attack took place. She was hit by bullets in her lower body and later died of her injuries. Mishayev managed to call her boyfriend immediately after the attack, but later died due to blood loss.
Ben Gurion University professor Michael Feige, 58, from Ramat Gan, was buried on Friday at 1 p.m. in Rehovot.
The fourth Israeli killed in the Tel Aviv attack, Ido Ben Ari, was buried on Thursday.
The two gunmen, cousins who came from the Palestinian town of Yatta in the southern West Bank, were caught shortly after the terror attack.
Since last October, 33 Israelis and four others have been killed and hundreds more injured in the spate of attacks, though the violence had dramatically waned of late.
Some 200 Palestinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while carrying out attacks and the rest in clashes with troops, Israeli officials say.
The Times of Israel Community.