|
June 22, 2003
Eli man slain in ambush day after son's wedding
By Margot Dudkevitch
US-born Zvi Goldstein, 47, of Eli, was murdered and his parents and wife wounded, when a terrorist shot up their vehicle north of Ofra on Friday afternoon, just minutes after the conclusion of the joint press conference between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the urgency of eliminating terrorism.
The family was heading for Jerusalem to celebrate Shabbat with their son, David, who had been married the day before.
Goldstein and his wife, Michal, who are originally from New York, moved to Eli five years ago.
His parents, Eugene and Lorraine, both in their seventies, came from New York to participate in their grandson's wedding, the highlight of their eight-day visit.
Zvi and Michal were also celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary.
Goldstein was buried on Saturday night at Jerusalem's Har Hamenuhot Cemetery.
His parents, who were both seriously wounded in the attack, are hospitalized at Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital in Ein Kerem, suffering from gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.
Michal Goldstein, who was lightly wounded in the attack, was released from the hospital on Saturday night to attend her husband's funeral.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Powell later called the Hamas 'an enemy of peace.'
Following the attack, IDF units searched the village of Silwad, not far from where the shooting occurred.
According to officers, the terrorist took advantage of the high hills that overlook Route 60, fired at the vehicle, and fled back to the village.
Even after their vehicle was hit, Zvi Goldstein kept on driving, determined to reach Jerusalem and get his parents and wife treated.
After 12 kilometers, he lost control of the vehicle, which overturned and landed in a ditch near the Sha'arei Binyamin industrial complex.
Officers who reached the site thought at first that the car's occupants had been involved in a road accident, but it soon became clear that the family had been the victims of a terrorist shooting.
Avigdor Shatz, the security officer for the Binyamin district, said a report was received from a resident of Ofra who spotted the Goldsteins' vehicle as it sped past the community.
'They said it appeared there were wounded people in the vehicle and its back window was shattered,' Shatz said.
Magen David Adom medic Natali Ramati was on duty with her colleague Nir not far from where the Goldstein's vehicle crashed.
'We were several hundred meters away near the Psagot gas station in our bulletproof vehicle when we received the report and immediately sped to the scene,' she said.
'Two people were trapped inside the car and two others had been thrown on the ground outside.
'We managed to extricate one of the trapped people, the other was no longer alive and we began treating the wounded, hooking them up to drips. Within minutes extra teams arrived,' she said.
Lior Shtul of Eli said that immediately on receiving news of the attack, the community dispatched residents to the hospital to assist the family.
'Only on Thursday he danced at his son David's wedding in the Hod Hasharon area, even though he had problems walking due to polio he suffered as a child. He was so happy, they are a wonderful family,' he said.
The couple, he said, was very much liked in the community, which is home to both religious and non- religious families.
'A number of months ago their other child, daughter Hanna was married,' he said. Shtul said the Goldsteins, who lived in Brooklyn and Connecticut, immigrated to Israel in 1992.
'They moved to Neveh Tzuf, and from there to Ma'aleh Adumim, and then arrived in Eli five years ago.'
According to friends of Eugene and Lorrain Goldstein who live in Long Island with their daughter, the couple was concerned over the violence that plagues Israel, but were eager to attend their grandson's wedding.
Pearl Bederman, their neighbor in North Shore Towers, told The New York Daily News, 'Lorraine was scared to death to go there, She was petrified... I told Lorraine as long as you don't go on public transport, take buses, you should be okay.'
Hours after the attack on Friday, residents from Eli and surrounding communities reached the site to protest against the terrorist attack.
In Memoriam
------------------------------
Back to Timeline »
|
