Hundreds of people gathered Monday night at the cemetery in Alei Zahav to accompany Netanel Shukrun on his final journey. Shukrun was murdered at the Ein Raya spring in the Binyamin region hours before the start of Yom Kippur.
Netanel, a high-tech professional who worked as an information systems analyst at Hachshara Insurance Company, is survived by his wife, Merav, and six children. The eldest, an 11th-grade student, had accompanied him to the spring, while the youngest is 4. Members of the family gathered beside Netanel’s grave and embraced one another during the traditional tearing of garments as a sign of mourning.
Yoav, Netanel’s 16-year-old son, whose father helped save him in the attack, thanked him in his eulogy.
“Dad, I want to say thank you for 16 years together. Thank you for shouting to me when the terrorist came in during the attack. I don’t remember what you said to me, but I ran. Thank you for giving me my life. Thank God I survived, and I want to tell the family that we will keep going together and everything will be OK. I want to ask Dad to forgive me for what I did and for anything that may have hurt you.”
His daughter Talia addressed her father: “Monday, you told me to come with you to the spring, and I preferred to stay home. At 11:36, I heard on one of the channels that there had been an attack at a spring near Neve Tzuf. At first I didn’t make the connection, but then I realized it was the spring where you were. I went to Mom and asked her to check where you were, and you didn’t answer. From that moment, our lives changed. I missed you so much on Yom Kippur, especially during the Ne’ilah prayer. I will miss you so much, and your absence will be felt.”
Merav, Netanel’s wife, said in her eulogy: “I’m supposed to be used to speaking before an audience, but not one like this. The circumstances are different. Before I give a lecture, I’m prepared, and Nati would go over the presentation and make sure I knew the material. I don’t have that option now.
“I met Nati after going through crises in my life, and to tell the truth, Nati didn’t make things easy for me. We came from different families, but that didn’t stand in the way of two soulmates.
“We got married 18 years ago. On our first anniversary, we went to a hotel and immediately realized that from then on we would postpone all our celebrations until either before or after the Jewish holidays. This year, we didn’t get a chance to celebrate. Nati, our family is perfect. Everything was perfect. Sometimes it made me nervous that everything was so good. I would find little problems and take comfort in them.
'We will continue on your path.' The late Netanel 'Nati' Shukrun
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
“Nati was a family man who believed deeply in honoring his parents. After both of his parents died, he made sure to stay in touch with his siblings. He told me, ‘When you honor your parents, it’s as though I’m honoring them too, because I don’t have parents to honor.’
“On the eve of Yom Kippur, I set out with the children to visit my parents and wish them a good final sealing, and Nati convinced the children to come. When I was in the car, Nati ran over to me and said, ‘It’s crowded. I’ll go immerse now, and after the meal and Mincha prayer we’ll all go together,’ so he would have time to finish cooking. Nati was the most involved father in the world.
“We were supposed to fly abroad next week, and his goal for the trip was for us to bond and spend time together. He planned the trip down to the smallest detail and packed a sukkah and food so everything would go as smoothly as possible. And at the very last second, he warned Yoav. Thank you, Nati, for your bravery and for looking out for Yoav.”
Ruti Cohen, Netanel’s sister, said: “Nati, our dear and beloved brother, you were the youngest in our family. You were Dad’s pride and joy and Mom’s treasure. She gave birth to you at 45 while she was ill. You were named Netanel as an expression of gratitude for your coming into the world. You were the child of all of us, a brother, a gift and a man of gifts.
“Our Nati, we love you. You were kind, intelligent and modest. You were loved and walked in the ways of God.”
Miri Shukrun, another of Netanel’s sisters, said: “When you invited me to come spend Yom Kippur with you in Alei Zahav, this was not what I had planned. While Mom was pregnant with you, she discovered that she had a serious illness, and they told her she had to choose between the baby’s life and her own. Mom made a pact with the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘I will protect the baby, and You protect me.’ We were blessed to have Mom for another 36 years and Nati for 48 years.”
Nati Malkieli, Netanel’s battalion commander, said: “Nati, you were a brother, a father, a friend, a neighbor and a partner. You were everything to me, and you did everything for me. You gave your very best so I could succeed in my position, and you always strove for excellence. You were always thinking about how we could move forward. I was always proud to have you by my side. You always helped keep me on track.
Hundreds attend Netanel Yehonatan Shukrun’s funeral late at night after Yom Kippur
(Photo: Chaim Snow for the Samaria Regional Council)
“Every project I dreamed about, I turned to you, and you helped me make it happen. Even with the latest project — establishing a home for reservists in Samaria — you thought about how to move it forward. As battalion commander and as a commander in the battalion, we will continue on your path, and I promise to help Merav move forward with the home renovation you wanted to do. We will always be by your side.”
Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, added: “Our holy brother Nati Shukrun — there wasn’t a Jew who didn’t think of you during the Yom Kippur liturgical poem Eleh Ezkerah ('These I Will Remember') about the Ten Martyrs. Your grandfather was killed in riots in Algeria, and you were killed for being a proud Jew. You ascended heavenward after immersing in a spring on the eve of the holiest day.
“You always did everything with a smile and a melody filled with the spirit of tradition and holiness. Even in the final seconds of your life, you saved the life of your son Yoav. You told him, ‘Yoav, terrorist — run.’ Yoav, you are a true hero. Dad is proud of you.”
Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of the IDF Central Command, and Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller, commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, attended the funeral. Many children and teenagers were also seen among the mourners who came to pay their final respects despite the funeral being held late at night.
The Alei Zahav community said in a statement: “Netanel was a man of kindness, humble, modest and beloved, a devoted husband to Merav and a devoted father to his six children. The Shukrun family is a longstanding family with deep roots in the community and an inseparable part of Alei Zahav. We are all embracing Merav and the children and will stand by them during this difficult time and in whatever they may need. May his memory be a blessing.”
Netanel had gone with his eldest son, 16-year-old Yoav, to the Ein Raya spring to immerse ahead of Yom Kippur. After immersing, he returned to his vehicle with his son, where the terrorist opened fire on them. Netanel was killed while his son was unharmed.
New details from the investigation into the attack indicate that the terrorist, 37-year-old Hamas operative Qadri Samara, had passed through the area around the spring a day before the attack. According to investigators, he took advantage of the fact that many people come to immerse in the spring near Neve Tzuf on the eve of Yom Kippur, drove to the site and opened fire on Netanel’s vehicle.
A tracker from the IDF’s Binyamin Brigade who was in the area in an armored vehicle returned fire at the terrorist and wounded him, preventing him from continuing to shoot and saving Netanel’s son, who was in the vehicle.
The terrorist fled the scene and sought treatment at a clinic in Ramallah. Soldiers from the IDF’s Duvdevan unit arrived at the clinic, located him lying in a bed and arrested him. The initial investigation indicates that he acted alone.