News Article

Soldier killed, civilian wounded in Sha'ar Binyamin stabbing attack

Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman, 21, from Ma'ale Mikhmas , father of baby

Feb 18, 2016 - Off-duty St.-Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman, 21, of Ma'ale Mikhmas was killed while trying to stop two Palestinian teenage terrorists from stabbing shoppers at a Rami Levy supermarket in the Sha’ar Binyamin Industrial Zone, southeast of Ramallah in the West Bank.

St.-Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman, a combat sergeant in the IDF’s Nahal Brigade, who had been on leave from the army for a week, was shopping with his wife and infant daughter, so that when he returned to the army on Sunday they would have everything they needed. He heard screams from a different aisle as the two 14-year-olds attacked shoppers with knives, and even though he was unarmed, ran to help and was mortally wounded..

The supermarket where he was killed, which employs both Israelis and Palestinians and is popular with both Israeli and Palestinian shoppers, has become a symbol of coexistence. It has been targeted several times since the current wave of terrorism began.

Yanai and Yael were childhood sweethearts, who married two years ago. After her husband was killed, Yael said: "If you had not raced to help, you would not be the Yanai that I know, the one I fell in love with." She added, "We were waiting for your release from the army. We had so many plans. To fly, to trek, to work, to study and most important of all, to be together."

Weissman was described by friends as a quiet, studious young man; an enthusiastic combat soldier; and a loving husband and father who attended high school in Jerusalem and a pre-military academy in Kfar Eldad, where he combined Torah study and preparation for the army. Rabbi Shmuel Natanzon of the Yedidya academy where Weissman studied eulogized him, saying, "We had many debates until the small hours of the night because you were a man of truth. You had doubts as to whether to go to a command role or continue in combat, I knew that you could be a role model and symbol."

US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner condemned the attack that killed Weissman, who also held US citizenship.

St.-Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman was buried in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl Military Cemetery. He is survived by his wife Yael, daughter Netta, aged 4 months, his parents and three siblings.