Nir Kahane laid to rest in K. Tivon

The 20-year-old officer was stabbed to death at Kalandia checkpoint Thursday.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
checkpoint 88 (photo credit: )
checkpoint 88
(photo credit: )
Sgt. Nir Kahane, 20, the military policeman who was stabbed to death Thursday by a Palestinian attacker at the Kalandia checkpoint, was buried Friday morning at 11:30 in the Kiryat Tivon military cemetary. Hundreds of mourners participated in Kahane's funeral late Friday morning. "We were waiting to see you next week at our school's 'Graduates speak from the front' day, at which you had volunteered to speak. Nobody could have guessed that the meeting would turn into a separation from you," said Penina Avramson, Kahane's high school instructor. "I would give anything to have one of our wonderful heart-to-heart conversations again. But now, only one side remains for the discussion, opposite your silent grave," Kahane's older brother Ran said. "In my heart, I know that you hea me and one thing I would wish you, Nir, that the angels above will give you the same amount of love, good-heartedness and aid that you gave to all of us during your short life. May you rest in peace. I will always remember you, my brother." Family members spoke of Nir's determination to offer meaningful service to his country. His father, Baruch, said that Nir had wanted to serve in a combat unit, but that his medical profile had precluded combat duty. He had been disappointed with his placement in the military police, but was determined to serve in the checkpoints unit in order to have the most frontline of assignments possible with his medical profile. Kahane's father said that his son had warned him on Wednesday that there were warnings of a terror attack planned against the checkpoint where he served. "I told him to take care of himself," said Baruch Kahane on the morning following his son's killing. Kahane is survived by his parents, Baruch and Sarah, and two siblings. The Palestinian assailant, Yousef Abu Adi, 29, was apprehended by soldiers immediately after the late-afternoon attack. The Palestinian approached the checkpoint at around 3:45 p.m. and pushed through the "humanitarian needs" line reserved for the elderly, infirm, and pregnant women. Upon reaching the point where Kahane stood, Abu Adi suddenly pulled out a knife which was hidden in his clothes, and slit Kahane's throat. Kahane was fatally wounded in the attack and was pronounced dead on the scene by an army doctor despite the intense efforts of army medics to resuscitate him. Abu Adi, a resident of the West Bank village of Nuema in the Ramallah area, was whisked away for questioning to the Jerusalem police headquarters. In ensuing questioning, it became clear that Abu Adi carried out the attack on his own, despite claims made by the al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades that they had initiated the attack. The checkpoint where the attack took place is the point of entry for thousands of West Bank Palestinians from the Ramallah area into Jerusalem on a daily basis. The local IDF commander said that Israel would be forced to further increase security checks at the checkpoint, which has been the scene of previous attacks in the past, as a result of the latest attack. "This incident hurts all our attempts to improve the quality of life of the Palestinians and we will have to decrease it in order to provide the greatest security to our forces," Col. Miki Edelstein told Israel Radio. The lethal attack came against the backdrop of mounting violence following a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed five Israelis outside a Netanya shopping mall on Monday.