Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, arrived in Israel on Thursday and went directly to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where his son Neriya remains hospitalized after being critically wounded in a terror attack at a checkpoint on Route 443.
Neriya Leiter, a reservist from Havat Yair in the West Bank, underwent a complex brain operation that lasted several hours after a terrorist drove a vehicle into him while he was serving at the checkpoint.
Prof. Alexander Yuskovich of Shaare Zedek said Thursday morning that Neriya’s condition had stabilized following a series of examinations and surgeries, though he remained in serious, life-threatening condition.
“After a series of tests and a series of surgeries, we can say that his condition is stable,” Yuskovich said. “His condition is still serious and his life is still in danger, but we are full of hope.”
Leiter thanked the hospital staff treating his son and said the family understood that doctors had faced an exceptionally difficult night.
“When I boarded the plane yesterday in New York, while preparing the prime minister’s visit to the UN, I was afraid I might land without hope,” Leiter said. “Thank God, the doctors managed to stabilize Neriya’s condition. His life is still in danger.”
‘Neriya leads the family’
For Leiter, the crisis has reopened the wounds of another family tragedy. His son Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter was killed in Gaza in November 2023.
“This experience is different from the night when I got the knock on the door nearly three years ago, after my son fell,” Leiter said. “He died immediately. There was no possibility then of bringing him to a hospital and allowing Israel’s senior doctors to work on him.”
Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, speaks at Shaare Zedek
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
“This time, we had the opportunity to gather around Neriya’s bed, say Psalms and mobilize the people of Israel to pray for his recovery,” he added.
Leiter said Neriya and Moshe had grown up sharing a bedroom and were best friends.
“Neriya has led the family since Moshe’s death,” he said.
Sister goes into labor nearby
As the family gathered at the hospital, another dramatic event unfolded only meters away.
Leiter said his eldest daughter, Sarah, whose husband is serving as commander of the Shaked Battalion, had given birth during the war to a daughter named Shaked and later became pregnant again.
“When she came to her brother’s bedside yesterday, her water broke, two weeks before her due date,” Leiter said. “Now she is lying 40 meters from her brother in intensive care.”
Neriya’s mother, Hannah, said the family was still struggling to absorb what had happened.
“His wife started crying and came to tell me,” she told Army Radio. “At first she told me, ‘I thought it was an explosive device.’”
“You can’t get used to this,” she said. “We’re still in shock. His wife keeps saying, ‘I can’t believe this is happening to us.’ She said she was worried when he served in Lebanon, but this close to home?”
Hannah said Neriya had played a central role in holding the family together after Moshe was killed.
“After Moshe fell, he wanted so much to gather all of us together and help us,” she said. “He held our hand. He was amazing. He was close to almost all of us. Whoever needed help, he was there. We cling to life.”
Asked whether Neriya’s children had been told about his condition, Hannah said his wife spoke to them Wednesday.
“Neriya’s oldest is 11,” she said. “His wife told them yesterday. Their friends stayed with them overnight, and she went to tell them.”