‘The four of you will be together forever’

1,000 say goodbye to two sisters and their husbands, killed near Eilat.

By BEN HARTMAN
Kfar Saba funerals for Eilat terror victims 311 (photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Kfar Saba funerals for Eilat terror victims 311
(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Over a thousand people crowded the Kfar Saba cemetery on Sunday, to bid farewell to four people killed by terrorists three days earlier near Eilat.
Moshe Gez, 53, Flora Gez, 52, Dov Karlinski, 58, and Shula Karlinski, 54, were headed for a vacation in the southern city when they came under fire from Gazans who had infiltrated Israel from Sinai.
Mourners described sisters Shula and Flora, both career nursery school teachers, as near-angelic figures. They and their husbands were the best of friends and spent nearly every day together. It appeared that some took solace in knowing that they died alongside those whom they were closest to.
“They were always together in life, and they’re together again now,” family friend Itzik Yoel said during his eulogy.
“They helped each other in their daily lives, and there’s no way to describe how great they were or how much love they shared, or how many great friends they had from across the entire Israeli spectrum.”
He continued, “They were on their way to a vacation, when they [terrorists] hurt them. They hurt innocent people, happy people, who died in a hail of gunfire without any ability to defend themselves.
“Destiny decided that you would be taken together and that even in heaven, the four of you will be together forever, and spend your days as you did here: together,” Yoel said.
Deputy Premier Moshe Ya’alon told the mourners that the couples “died at the hands of cowards who struck at civilians.... These are the same blood-drenched hands of the terrorists living in the Gaza Strip who are a continuation of the generations of Israel-haters. Their only goal is to murder Jews because they are Jews.”
Ayalon added, “Our response to the terrorism is that the State of Israel will liquidate anyone who harms or even tried to harm its citizens.”
Other politicians in attendance included Labor MKs Shelly Yacimovich, Amir Peretz and Isaac Herzog, and Labor leadership candidate Arel Margalit.
Shula and Dov’s son Yaniv Karlinsky told the crowd, “There is no way to describe the sorrow and the pain.
There aren’t other people like you in the world – full of light, warmth and love. You were picked apart like flowers in a field by murderous, heartless terrorists. There is nothing that can fill the space you left behind.”
Idan Gez said that ever since he heard the news of his parents’ death, “it has been very difficult for me to look forward, everything is full of question marks. We have been left here alone.”
Addressing his deceased parents, Gez said, “Thanks to you, I know what it means to be a family, and the meaning of love, happiness and a strong work ethic. You must know that I will build a family in Israel and I will raise children like you raised me.
Thank you for everything you did, and for raising me to be the person I am today.
“Father, just like I was everything to mom, you were everything to me, and I never told you that enough,” Gez said.
He added that he took some solace knowing “that Shula and Dubik are with you.”