As we begin the new year, we pay tribute to those who lost their lives in terrorist attacks in Israel since Rosh Hashanah 2016. May their memory be a blessing.

October 9, 2016 

Levana Malichi (60), Yosef Kirme (29)

Palestinian gunmen opened fire from their car at a light-rail stop outside of the main police station in Ammunition Hill, killing Levana Malichi who was sitting in her car. She leaves behind her husband, three daughters, and six grandchildren. Police gave chase after the vehicle fled the scene of the attack and a shootout ensued. One officer, Yosef Kirme, was killed. Yosef was a member of the elie Yassam patrol unit. He is survived by his wife of five months and two brothers.

January 3, 2017

Guy Jacob Cafrey (48)

Murdered in Haifa in a shooting attack. Guy was working as a mini-bus driver in Haifa, transporting disabled children to schools and day care centers, when he was shot by a terrorist while waiting for his car to be serviced at an auto repair shop. He leaves behind his parents and a sister.

January 8

Lt. Yael Yekutiel (20), Cadet Shir Hajaj (22), Cadet Shira Tzur (20), Cadet Erez Orbach (20)

A Palestinian truck driver deliberately drove his truck into a group of Israeli soldiers who had just exited a bus in Jerusalem, killing four soldiers and inflicting serious injury on over a dozen more bystanders. Shira Tzur leaves behind her parents, a brother and a sister. Yael Yekutiel is survived by her parents and a sister. Shir Hajaj leaves behind her parents and three sisters. Erez Orbach is survived by his parents and five brothers.

April 6

Sgt. Elchai Taharlev (20)

Sgt. Taharlev was killed a Route 60 bus stop outside the West Bank settlement of Ofra, which was used as a hitchhiking point by local residents. Taharlev leaves behind his parents, three brothers, and three sisters.

April 14

Hannah Bladon (20)

A British woman in Israel on a student exchange program, Hannah Bladon was stabbed to death in a terror attack on Jerusalem’s light-rail. Hannah was spending the year studying religion, theology and archaeology at Hebrew University.

June 16

Staff Sgt. Hadas Malka (23)

Part of a police unit sent to capture one of three terrorists who had escaped from police, Hadas Malka was stabbed to death by the escaped terrorist outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City just before Shabbat. She leaves behind her parents, three sisters and two brothers.

July 14

Hayil Satawi (30), Sgt. Kamil Shanan (22)

Two Arab-Israeli police offers from Israel’s Druze community were killed when three Arab-Israeli terrorists opened fire on a group of policemen close to the Temple Mount. Hayil Satawi leaves behind his parents, three siblings, his wife and child, who was then three weeks old; Kamil Shanan leaves behind his parents, a brother and three sisters. His father, Shakib Shanan, was a Member of Knesset for Israel’s Labor Party.

July 21

Yosef Salomon (70), Elad Salomon (36), Haya Salomon (46)

A Palestinian terrorist broke into a home in the Israeli settlement village of Halamish during Shabbat, stabbing three family members to death. The family had gathered for a festive Shabbat dinner to celebrate the birth of a new baby. Yosef Salomon is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son, who are also his son Elad’s and daughter Haya’s mother and siblings. Elad is also survived by his wife and five children.