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All Seven Victims of Jerusalem Bombing Identified

A father and his daughter out together on the night before her wedding were among the seven killed and 57 wounded in a suicide bombing at a popular coffee shop in Jerusalem Tuesday night.

Dr. David Appelbaum, 50, and his daughter Nava, 20, were buried Wednesday at 10:00 in Jerusalem.

Applebaum, born in Detroit, raised and educated in Cleveland, was head of the emergency department in Shaarei Zedek Hospital and founder of the Terem 24-hour emergency clinic in Jerusalem.

As the Shaarei Zedek crew of nurses and doctors were treating the dozens of wounded at Cafe Hillel, they received word that the attack had killed one of the most senior and beloved doctors of their hospital.

Nava Applebaum, a volunteer with children suffering from cancer as part of her national youth service, was to be married Wednesday evening. She and her father were celebrating their last night together before the wedding.

Applebaum, well-trained in treating bombing victims after years working as a hospital emergency room director, was usually the first to report to the hospital after a bombing. There was no sign of him Tuesday night.

"It was clear to me from very early on that David Applebaum - when he didn't show up and I knew he was in Jerusalem and he hadn't called - that a terrible tragedy had occurred," said Shaarei Tzedek Hospital Director Yonatan Halevy. "Confirmation of my suspicions came shortly."

A paramedic on the scene recognized Applebaum, and notified the hospital. The nurses and doctors, shocked and grieved, kept on treating the stream of casualties.

"Thousands of Jerusalemites owe Dr. Applebaum their lives," said Halevy. "This is a terrible loss."

"Dad dedicated his life to saving others," Applebaum's eldest son Natan told the web site ynet. "Dear Nava should have been married today. They went out for a last night before the wedding to talk."

Hearing the news, the family arrived at the emergency room, which was like a second home to them. Nava's fiancee, Chanan Sand, 20, fainted upon hearing and had to receive medical attention.

At the funeral Chanan placed their wedding ring on her body as it was lowered to the grave.

Thousands, among them many of the wedding guests, attended the funeral.

Other victims identified at this time include:

Alon Mizrachi, 22, Jerusalem.

Alon was the guard on duty at Hillel coffe shop at the time of the attack. He attempted to bodily prevent the terrorist's entrance to the Caf .

His Brother-in-law, Avi Levi, said he "had a soul of a hero."Following his army service, as a mechanic in the IAF, Alon became a guard at Hillel coffee shop, where he had worked for the past three months. "He loved his job," Levi told ynet. "Alon always had a smile on his face. Even when things were hard, he always laughed He was everybody's friend."

Hearing the news, Alon's eight-year-old nephew wrote a letter to Prime Minister Sharon, saying: "I know we all want peace and I know that everyone close to somebody who has died in the attack wants revenge. Stop being the forgiving Nation."

Alon left behind him parents, three brothers and three sisters. He was buried Wednesday at 14:30, in Jerusalem.

Shafik Karim, 27, from Beit Hanninah.

Karim was a waiter at Cafe Hillel, and a friend of Alon Mizrahi.

Karim will be buried tomorrow.

Gila Moshe, 40, Jerusalem.

A mother of two, Gila was out with a friend on the night of the attack. Her worried son asked Gila to stay home, but "in a moment's decision she decided to go out and have fun," said her sister, Orna Ben Yishai.

Gila's relatives spoke of a woman who "loved her family so much."

" She was a devoted mother, full of life. She used to play with her children as if she were their own age," her sister said.

Gila left behind a husband and two sons. She will be buried Wednesday at 16:00, in Jerusalem.

Yechiel Emil Tubol, 52, from Jerusalem.

Yechiel owned a building business. "He had hands of gold," said his brother, Chaim.

"He was very hardworking, and was always looking after his family."

Alona Angle, an architect who worked with Yechiel, called her friend's death "terribly ironic. A man who built and worked with Arabs, to be killed like that. It's so easy to ruin, in a split second, everything this man spent a lifetime building. He was intelligent and gentle, a man of wisdom and honesty. Everybody trusted him."

Yechiel left behind a wife and three children.

David Shimon Avizadris, 51, from Mevaseret Zion.

David was the eldest of seven and, when his father died, took his siblings under his wing. "The entire family was dependant on him," said his brother, Eli.

On Tuesday night, David and his wife, Hadas, were sitting with friends in the caf . "He was such a friendly type," Eli said, "and in the caf he got up to say hello to some friends. At the moment of the explosion he happened to be standing between the terrorist and his wife, and she was miraculously saved."

David left behind a wife and three children.

The suicide bomber blew himself up Tuesday night at the entrance to the popular Cafe Hillel restaurant on Emek Refaim Road in the German Colony in southern Jerusalem.

According to police, there were two guards at the coffee shop, one at the entrance and one inside. Both guards noticed the suicide bomber and moved towards him.

One witness said the guards definitely pushed the bomber outside the cafe, where he managed to shout Allah Akbar (God is great) before he exploded.

Jerusalem Police chief Mickey Levy said the guards prevented a much larger number of fatalities.

Hamas' military wing Izzadin Al Kassam welcomed the attack. The group's statement said Israelis could expect more attacks. Crowds in Gaza City celebrated the two attacks, with some handing out sweets.

By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF

All seven victims of Jerusalem bombing identified
From Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1063089929518

American-born Hospital ER Chief and His Daughter Buried on Her Wedding Day

The team of the emergency room at Shaare Zedek Medical Center was already used to many terror attacks, but Tuesday night's suicide bombing at Cafe Hillel on Emek Refaim Street brought a new, horrific experience.

As the hospital's doctors and nurses waited to treat the wounded, they received word that the attack had killed the head of their emergency room, Dr. David Appelbaum.

Appelbaum, 50, had taken his daughter, Naava, 20, to the cafe on the eve of her wedding, which was to have taken place Wednesday night. Both were among the seven Israelis killed in the suicide bombing. Both were lain to rest in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Colleagues said Appelbaum, who moved to Israel from Cleveland, Ohio, some 20 years ago, had in the past often been among the first to reach and treat victims of terror attacks.

"He would appear at the site of every attack, volunteer, get in the ambulances to evacuate the injured to the emergency room," said Dr. Kobi Assaf, director of the emergency room at Hadassah Ein Karem hospital, also in Jerusalem.

"I recall how he was distressed by the injured, by what he had seen, but again and again, at night, he would be there. We have lost a dear good man."

Appelbaum's father-in-law Rabbi Shubert Spero, of the Young Israel of Cleveland congregation, eulogizing the slain physician and his daughter, told mourners Wednesday, "Can there be a greater tragedy?"

Noting how Naava had done National Service by aiding child cancer patients, Spero said, "The Jewish people has lost a devoted daughter, the nation of Israel has lost one of its proud, loyal and courageous sons. The world of Torah has lost a true Talmud Chochem (a brilliant student of Jewish sources), and the world of medicine has lost one of its most competent, one of its most creative practitioners."

Spero, who is turning to Applebaum's five surviving children, said "All of you have to grow up now, very quickly. There's no more time for childish things."

Appelbaum had just flown back to Israel after giving a talk at a New York University terrorism symposium marking the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hours after landing in Israel, Appelbaum met Naava, to impart some last-minute advice before her wedding.

As ambulances began delivering the wounded from the attack, Shaarei Tzedek hospital director Yonatan Halevy was wary. Appelbaum was usually the first to report to the hospital after a bombing. There was no sign of him.

"It was clear to me from very early on that David Appelbaum - when he didn't show up and I knew he was in Jerusalem and he hadn't called - that a terrible tragedy had occurred," Halevy said. "Confirmation of my suspicions came shortly."

Word that he was one of the victims came from a rescue worker who recognized him at the scene. The hospital staff had to cope with their own grief as they treated the wounded.

To understand the grief and pain "it was enough yesterday to look at the sorrowful faces of the emergency room workers while they were treating the wounded streaming into the hospital from the attack," Halevy said.

For his daughter's wedding, Appelbaum had prepared a book with sayings from family members and himself, biblical passages and marital advice.

Visiting the family before dawn Wednesday, Halevy leafed through the book Appelbaum would never give his daughter. "The fact that a man flies, three days before his daughter's wedding, to share this doctrine about preparing for a mass terror attack, which Jerusalem hospitals have unprecedented knowledge of, is an example of his combined outlook - complete dedication, to both work and the family," Halevy said.

Appelbaum was identified at the scene by one of his colleagues, Dr. Yitzhak Glick, from Efrat. Glick arrived at the site of the attack with his emergency team, in order to help with the evacuation of the wounded, and recognized Appelbaum almost at once.

A little before midnight the word began spreading through the corridors of Shaare Zedek. Doctors, nurses and staff members cried bitterly. Within minutes, Applebaum's children began arriving at the hospital, and later joined by his wife.

Appelbaum worked at Shaare Zedek for many years, but left several years ago in order to set up a center for emergency medicine in Jerusalem. He returned to the hospital to run the emergency room.

David and Nava Applebaum were lain to rest in Jerusalem Wednesday morning.

By Nadav Shragai and Shoshana Kordova, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and agencies

Bombing kills hospital ER chief and daughter
From Ha'aretz: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/338755.html

IDF Kills Dispatcher of Bomber Who Murdered 22 on No. 2 Jerusalem Bus

The senior Hamas commander in Hebron, Ahmed Bader, who dispatched the suicide bomber who blew up a No. 2 Jerusalem bus three weeks ago murdering 22 people, was identified as one of two terrorists killed in the city by security forces on Tuesday following intensive gun battles throughout the day.

Bader's body, together with that of his assistant, Izzadin Misek, was discovered lying in the elevator shaft of the first floor of the eight-story building undercover troops had surrounded before dawn in an operation to nab senior Hamas gunmen holed up inside.

Near the bodies, security forces found a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a handgun, a grenade launcher, ammunition clips, and night vision equipment. Officers said the Hamas infrastructure in the city was responsible for the deaths of scores of Israelis. Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon said that the cell was planning to perpetrate an attack in the coming days.
At nightfall, security forces blew up the first few floors of the building but did not continue searching the higher floors, fearing they were boobytrapped. Officers said the building would be demolished in its entirety during the night, and that no other fugitives remained inside.
Palestinians reported that Thaer Sayuri, a 12-year-old boy who lived in an adjacent building, was also killed after tanks fired several rounds of shells at the building where the fugitives were hiding.

According to the reports, Sayuri stood on the balcony of his third floor apartment watching the operation outside when he was hit by shrapnel. He died shortly after arriving at the local hospital. Doctors said he had suffered shrapnel wounds to the face. The IDF spokesman said the army is investigating the claim.

Aside from Sayuri, Palestinians reported that Nisreen Hamadiyeh, 10, was wounded, in addition to Bassem al-Dajani, who was wounded in the first hours of the operation and was taken to Hadassah-University Hospital Ein Kerem and will later be questioned by the Shin Bet. Officers were seeking to determine whether Dajani was one of the wanted Palestinians or a civilian. Palestinians claim he was a factory worker and suffered a neck wound.

In the early morning hours, acting on intelligence, troops from the elite Duvdevan unit accompanied by armored units surrounded the building of 27 apartments that belongs to the Kawasmeh family, located in the Abu Kteila neighborhood near the Polytechnic College.
Abdullah Kawasmeh, considered to have masterminded numerous attacks, was killed by forces in the city in June when he attempted to evade arrest.

Bader, who was his deputy, then became the senior Hamas commander in the city. The soldiers, using loudspeakers, called out to residents to leave the building after the gunmen inside opened fire.

A fierce gun battle erupted, and tanks at the site fired a number of shells. Throughout the day, sporadic gunfire between the sides continued, with the troops remaining outside the building. In the afternoon, tanks again fired a number of rounds and there was light weapons fire before security forces broke into the building where they engaged in a gun battle with Bader and Masek, who were hiding in the lift shaft.

The soldiers searched the first floor of the building and towards nightfall placed charges and blew the first floors up. Officers deemed the operation a success.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, three Hamas fugitives were arrested in Nablus and two in Abu Kash north of Ramallah. Palestinians fired shots at forces deployed in Nablus and an explosive device was thrown at troops in Tulkarm.

In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians fired four mortar shells at an Israeli community in the north Gaza Strip, two exploded inside the community but no one was wounded.

Near the Karni crossing a Palestinian apparently armed with a bomb was killed by forces. Shots were fired at an post near Gadid and at an patrol near the north Gaza Strip fence, no one was wounded in either attack.

By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH

IDF kills dispatcher of bomber who murdered 22 on No. 2 Jerusalem bus
From Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1063089930039

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