Jerusalem street to be named for two slain policewomen

“As elected officials, we must honor the heroines who sacrificed their lives to protect civilians, and immortalize their names.”

By LEON SVERDLOV
Comrades of Border Policewoman Hadar Cohen mourn during her funeral in Yehud (photo credit: REUTERS)
Comrades of Border Policewoman Hadar Cohen mourn during her funeral in Yehud
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A Jerusalem street will be named for two slain policewomen, Hadar Cohen and Hadas Malka, who were murdered in two separate terrorist attacks near the Damascus Gate.
Staff-Sergeant Major Hadas Malka, 23, from Beer Tuvia, was stabbed and killed in a combined attack on Sultan Suleiman Street in east Jerusalem in June 2017.
Lance-Corporal Hadar Cohen was shot and killed in a similar attack in February 2016.
Cohen, who only enlisted two months before the attack, was shot while trying to protect a fellow policewoman who was stabbed at the Damascus Gate, managing to kill one of the three terrorists.
“We are all Border Police,” Malka posted on social media soon after learning of the 2016 attack. “I salute the heroine Hadar Cohen; may God avenge her blood.”
The committee responsible for naming Jerusalem streets is set to approve a proposal by the nonprofit B’tzelmo that was promoted earlier by Jerusalem City Council member Dan Illouz.
Illouz, a representative of the Hitorerut (“Awakening”) party, wrote to Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion in early September to voice his support for the proposal.
“Hadar Cohen and Hadas Malka fell near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, while preventing severe attacks,” Illouz wrote to the mayor.
“As elected officials, we must honor the heroines who sacrificed their lives to protect civilians, and immortalize their names.”
After the decision was finalized, Illouz said, “I applaud the committee’s decision to approve the request for Ma’alot Hadar and Hadas. We remember those who gave their lives for the defense of the people of the State of Israel, not only collectively but also as individuals – each with their own name.
“It is also poignant that the very act of determining a name for this spot strengthens our ties to precisely the places that terrorists, such as those that killed Hadar and Hadas, seek to expel us from,” he continued. “The people of Israel, the Jewish people, will never forget our children.”