Jordan Valley terrorist shooting victims Yehezkel Ramazreger and David Rabinovitch laid to rest.
By YAAKOV LAPPINRabinovitch coffin 248.88(photo credit: AP)
Family members and police colleagues wept as a flag-draped coffin carrying the body of Senior Warrant Officer Yehezkel Ramazreger was lowered into the ground during his funeral in Yavne on Monday.
Yehezkel, known as Hezi to his friends and family, was a 50-year-old single father, and lived with his three children in Ma'aleh Ephraim in Samaria.
He and his partner Chief Warrant Officer David Rabinovitch, both traffic policemen, were shot dead on Sunday night in a terrorist ambush in the Jordan Valley.
"Dad, why have you left us? Who will help us now? Who will make us smile?" asked his son, Alon at the funeral. "You always gave us the best. You worked night shifts and toiled at home so that we would have a decent life. We lacked nothing."
"You were my world," 16-year-old Elinor told her father. "I only have one father, and now he's gone," she cried. "Who will I call father? Life with you was beautiful. You always told me I was your lucky charm. If I am your lucky charm where did your luck go?" Elinor asked, before breaking down.
"Yehezkel had two loves, his family and his country," Menashe, brother of the deceased, told The Jerusalem Post. "I can't believe I'm talking about him in the past tense. He was a single parent for 10 years. Despite the difficult police work in shifts, he dedicated every free moment to his children. And despite the risks involved, he wanted to contribute to the country. We are all in shock."
Yehezkel came from a large family and had eight siblings, many of them also serving in the security forces. "This is the education we received. We are proud of wearing the uniform and doing our part," Menashe said.
Hundreds of police and family members attended the funeral, as did Public Security Minister Avi Dichter.
Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. David Cohen told mourners a "planned ambush" had targeted two "dedicated police officers" who had set out to fulfill a most basic policing duty, to help citizens. "Their kindness was exploited by the terrorists… Helping citizens - This is Israel Police's true calling, this is how commanders and officers educate officers. We will continue that tradition and protect the country everywhere," Cohen said.
"The killers of police officers will be caught," he vowed.
Yehezkel was also saluted by Cmdr. Shlomi Kaatabi, head of Judea and Samaria Police, and described by stunned colleagues as a model and professional police officer.
A police guard of honor fired three times into the air. Many mourners remained standing around the fresh gravesite after the ceremony ended, refusing to disperse.
Yehezkel was born in India, before immigrating to Israel with his family in 1967, settling down in Yavne. He leaves behind three children, eight siblings, and a mother.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of police officers, friends and family gathered at Haifa's military cemetery to pay their last respects to David Rabinovitch, 42, of Rosh Ha'ayin.
Mourners heard his son Idan, 13, speak of his enormous shock and pain.
The police commissioner said at that funeral that the fallen officers represented "the shield protecting the country. An officer who falls in the line of duty is our hero."
Rabinovich joined the police in 1992, and became a Judea and Samaria Traffic Police officer in 1999. He was described by colleagues as "a friend to everyone, someone who liked to smile. A professional officer."
He leaves behind Idan, two siblings, and two parents.
Rabinovich's sister told Army Radio that a third sibling, a brother, was murdered seven years ago in a case which has never been solved.
"Judea and Samaria police is a small family," Danny Poleg, spokesman for the District, told the Post. "Everyone knows everyone. We're all feeling the pain."
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