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A Sad Day For Israel and the World (4/2/09)

Only five hours after the freckled, always smiling, 13 year old Shlomo Nativ, of blessed memory, son of Rabbi Chaim and Revital Nativ, walked out the door of his home in Bat Ayin and crossed the same street he had crossed many times in his lifetime, he was brutally murdered by a Palestinian terrorist. The attack took place right before noon in the center of Bat Ayin, in front of the grocery store.

Shlomo's family brought his corpse out of their home on an orange stretcher, wrapped in a prayer shawl. Friends and neighbors accompanied the body of Shlomo, along with his family, to the nearby cemetery where he was buried Thursday afternoon. Using a megaphone to address the crowd, one of the mourners said that in the month of Nisan it is not permitted to deliver eulogies. "Anyway," he said, "words fail us."



The terrorist also attacked another young boy, Yair Gamliel, 7 year old son of Ofer & Michal Gamliel. Yair was evacuated by helicopter to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center. A spokesperson for the hospital said that Yair arrived fully conscious despite his grievous wounds. He underwent emergency surgery to repair his fractured skull. He is listed in serious, but stable condition.



Yair and Shlomo were near the local council building, where children often play, when a terrorist dressed as a settler approached them, slamming an axe into their heads. Shlomo managed to get back to his home before he collapsed and died.

Shlomo's parents were away shopping for Passover but some of his siblings were home. One of his brothers tried, in vain, to revive him by pressing on his chest.



Yair ran in the opposite direction, and rounded the corner of the council building as the terrorist raced after him, still holding the ax. A neighbor who had gone to the local council building to pay a bill saw the terrorist and fought with him, eventually managing to take the ax from him.

Just about that time, one of Shlomo's brothers came out of a carpentry shop with a friend and saw what was going on. The brother had a gun and shot in the air, while his friend ran after the attacker, but failed to catch him. The police said that according to eyewitness reports, the terrorist fled the scene after running wild and attacking passersby, escaping capture.



Bat Ayin is located between Jerusalem and the southern West Bank city of Hebron in Gush etzion and is home to aproximately 1000 religious settlers. The Nativ family was one of the founding families of the town of Bat Ayin.

The terrorist was able to enter the settlement with ease because it lacks a security fence, unlike most other settlements in Judea and Samaria. Bat Ayin residents did not want such a fence because they believe they should be able to live in safety without it.

Shlomo Nativ was the eighth of nine children.

Friends who visited the Nativ family on Friday at the Shivah reported that the family is a beacon of strength and faith in the Almighty, remaining composed and actually strengthening and comforting the hundreds of people that came to offer their condolences.

May G-d send comfort toShlomo's family and may He avenge his blood.
May Yair Tuvia ben Michal be blessed with a complete and speedy refuah shleimah, and may G-d protect him and all of Israel's sons and daughters. May He have compassion on all of Israel and stop the suffering.