Three-day-old baby of mother shot in Ofra attack buried

Earlier in the day, the baby’s parents Shira and Amichai Ish-ran, hospitalized for injuries sustained in the attack, visited the baby for the first time.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: DECEMBER 13, 2018 10:22
Mother of Ofra terror victim speaks, December 12, 2018 (Tovah Lazaroff)
Amiad Yisrael lived so briefly — three days — that his named was publicized for the first time at his funeral late Wednesday night in Jerusalem’s Mt. of Olives cemetery.
“It’s written in the [Jewish] law that a name must be given to a baby, so your parents gave you the name Amiad Israel,” his paternal grandfather, Rabbi Raphael Ish-Ran, said in a eulogy.
“It’s a name that signifies everything,” Ish-ran said as he uttered his grandson’s name, “Amiad Israel” and explained that it meant the Jewish people would be in the Land of Israel forever.
“Don’t be confused, we are crying, but we are strong,” he said.
Amiad Yisrael was born prematurely as a result of Sunday’s terrorist attack near Ofra and died on Wednesday evening. After his delivery in an emergency C-section, doctors in Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center fought unsuccessfully to save his live for 72 hours.
“You didn’t even live for four days,” the baby’s maternal grandfather Chaim Silberstein said as he eulogized his grandson.
Earlier in the day, the baby’s parents, Shira and Amichai Ish-ran – hospitalized themselves for injuries sustained in the attack – visited the baby for the first and last time.
On Sunday night, Silberstein and his wife Liora raced to the hospital after hearing that Shira and Amichai had been in a terror attack and on Wednesday night they stood in the rain to bury their grandson.
Silberstein said that at the couple’s wedding nine months ago “our happiness was so great, you were a perfect couple.”
He continued, “What joy when we heard of the pregnancy, a first grandchildren. The night month and the anticipation mounted. The lighting of the Hanukah lights on the eighth night at the home of Amichai’s parents [in Jerusalem]. You journeyed to your home in Elon Moreh in the heat of Israel. There was the innocent wait at the bus stop next to Ofra,” Silberstein said.
Then “a burst of bullets cut short our job, out anticipations and our dreams,” Silberstein said.
The couple’s life was spared in a clear miracle, Silberstein added.
“Amichai and Shira, our hearts are broken by the pain and loss, but your son, Amiad Yisrael, has done an enormous amount even though he did not even live for four days. He united the nation of Israel in prayer and study and love,” Silberstein said.
He fulfilled his obligation to honor his father and his mother by refusing to die until his parents had kissed and hugged him and parted from him, Silberstein said.
Earlier in the evening Dr. Alona Ben Nun, who heads the prenatal unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, said “the baby died embraced by his family’s love.”
The hospital staff was able to save the life of the baby’s mother Shira, who was severely wounded in the abdomen and underwent emergency surgery.
Her husband, Amichai, was wounded in the leg.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: ”Our hearts are with Shira and Amichai.”
President Reuven Rivlin called the parents “true heroes,” and posted a poem, “The parable of the fledgling” by Eli Eliyahu, about a baby bird that falls from his nest and cannot be rescued.
“We are with you, embracing you, and will not rest until this despicable terrorism is uprooted,” he said.
Education Minister and Bayit Yehudi party chairman Naftali Bennett wrote that the baby was “born out of fire.”
During the baby’s short time here he fought for his life, Bennett said. “The heart cries out.”
He said that: “Terrorists have stopped fearing us. Our lost deterrence must be restored – otherwise a wave of murders is on the way.”
Bennett said that statements are not enough, but rather “action is needed.”
US special envoy Jason Greenblatt wrote that the baby’s death was “absolutely heart-breaking.” He noted that Hamas had praised the attack, which came after the United Nations General Assembly refused to pass a resolution condemning terror attacks against Israel.
“The countries who raised the vote threshold at #UN for our resolution against Hamas – [or which] were absent, abstained or voted against our resolution to condemn Hamas – should absorb this news and understand their actions,” Greenblatt tweeted.

Among the first to tweet his condolences was the European Union Ambassador to Israel, Emanuele Giaufret.

“My thoughts are with all the victims,” he wrote. “My sincere condolences to the bereaved family.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nachshon wrote that the baby was a “victim of senseless Palestinian brutality. Our deepest condolences to the family. May his memory be forever blessed.”


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