Hours before the start of Yom Kippur on Sunday, Netanel Shukrun was fatally shot in a terror attack at a natural spring near the West Bank settlement of Neve Tzuf. The shooter opened fire toward the spring from a vehicle, striking Shukrun as he sat in his own car before fleeing the scene. Today, The Times of Israel reports that Shukrun has been laid to rest and that the shooter was captured by the IDF. Shukrun is also being credited with saving the life of his teenage son during the attack.
Many children and teenagers, as well as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, took part in the late-night funeral in Shukrun’s home community of Alei Zahav, a settlement in the northern West Bank.
Shukrun, a father of six, went to the natural spring with his eldest son to immerse in the water before Yom Kippur in accordance with Jewish tradition. While he was there, the shooter opened fire toward the spring from a vehicle, hitting Shukrun, who was inside his own car at the time.
At the last second, he warned Yoav” — the son, who was also inside the car — said Shukrun’s widow, Meirav. “Thank you, Nati, for your bravery.”
She said they had planned to fly abroad next week, hailing him as “the most involved father in the world” and saying that for 18 years “everything was perfect.”
The son, 16-year-old Yoav, said: “Dad, I want to say thank you for 16 years together. Thank you for shouting to me when the terrorist came in. I don’t remember what you said, and I escaped. Thank you for saving my life, thank God I survived, and I want to tell the family that we will carry on together and it will be okay.”
The terrorist initially fled on foot before a combat tracker with the IDF’s Binyamin Regional Brigade opened fire and injured him. The gunman later returned to his vehicle and drove to a hospital near Ramallah, where he was captured.
Shukrun lived in the West Bank settlement of Alei Zahav and worked as a systems information analyst. Hundreds of people attended his funeral Monday night, where he was remembered as a modest, kind man devoted to his family.
This was not the only violent incident in the West Bank ahead of Yom Kippur. The IDF reported that elsewhere in the region, a Palestinian man attempted to ram soldiers with his vehicle and was shot dead.
The Fellowship and our supporters pray for the Shukrun family and the community of Alei Zahav during this difficult time, and for shalom, peace, in the Holy Land.