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Wednesday, March 6, 2002
Efrat woman killed in shooting
MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
Dvora Friedman, 45, of Efrat, was killed and her husband Yona lightly wounded yesterday morning when terrorists standing on a hilltop opened fire as they drove on the Bethlehem bypass (tunnel) road.
Security forces and emergency teams came under fire as they treated the two. Dvora died of her wounds. Her husband, who was shot in the knee, was taken in a bulletproof vehicle to a nearby roadblock, moved to an ambulance and taken to Hadassah-University Hospital, Ein Kerem.
He delayed surgery to attend his wife's funeral at the Kibbutz Kfar Etzion cemetery yesterday afternoon.
Efrat Local Council head Eitan Golan said he expects the government to allow the army to take harsher steps in quelling the terror.
'The enemy must be hit. I expect the government to deal with the enemy, who is responsible for countless murders throughout the country, whether it be Afula, Tel Aviv, or Gush Etzion,' he said. 'The government must take the initiative and allow the army to act strongly and harshly, and we must show the world that we are not sitting ducks. We must attack. It is the only way to deal with the situation.'
Tsur Admon, a Magen David Adom paramedic from Efrat, said reports of the shooting were received at 8:17 a.m.
'On receiving the report, we hurried to the site of the attack,' he said. 'Army medics and security forces were at the scene, and yet the terrorists continued to shoot... We parked our bulletproof ambulance, blocking the vehicle that had been hit from further gunfire. An IDF jeep blocked the other side of the vehicle. The gunfire continued for a number of minutes.'
At least four bullets hit the windshield of the couple's vehicle, which he said was stopped near a cement barrier on the road.
'It appears they continued to drive after they were hit,' he said.
Throughout the day and night, gun battles continued between soldiers and Palestinians in the El Khader area.
Shortly after the fatal shooting attack, Channel 1 reporter Benny Liss was lightly wounded in the left arm in a crossfire near the site of the attack. He later drove to Hadassah-University Hospital, Ein Kerem. Meanwhile, MK Mossy Raz (Meretz) criticized statements by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin at Friedman's funeral.
According to Israel Radio, Riskin said Israel does not have to apologize for the deaths of Palestinian women and children who are killed in retaliatory acts. While Israel does not intentionally hit women and children, he reportedly said, the Palestinians have never apologized for the murders of Israeli women and children.
Raz said such statements show moral deterioration and the lack of respect for human life. 'That a religious man takes such a stand opposes the Jewish spirit and Zionism,' he said.
In Memoriam
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