Ronen Hanania, 49, was killed and three others were wounded when a Palestinian terrorist fired at Israeli civilians and security forces at a checkpoint in Kiryat Arba on the night of October 29. Hanania’s wife, Merav, noted at his funeral in Jerusalem the next day that he was due to celebrate his 50th birthday on November 2. “Everyone loved him,” she said. “I have nothing else in this life – only my son.” Their son, Daniel, who was wounded in the attack, said that he and his father were fired upon after shopping at a Palestinian store between Kiryat Arba and Hebron. Ofer Ohana, a Magen David Adom medic who was seriously wounded, was hospitalized at Shaare Zedek Medical Center. The terrorist, later identified as Muhammad al-Jabari, a Hamas member and father of three who had been diagnosed with cancer, was killed by a security officer.
Israeli security forces killed five leaders of the Lions’ Den terrorist group in Nablus early on October 25 as part of its operation “Break the Wave,” designed to crack down on terrorism. The five Palestinians were killed after an intense firefight broke out between Israeli forces and armed gunmen. They were identified by the Palestinian Health Ministry as Mishaal Zahi Baghdadi, 27; Hamdi Sharaf, 35; Ali Antar, 26; Hamdi Qayyim, 30; and Wadi al-Houh, 31, a founder of the Nablus-based group said to be responsible for a spate of recent attacks against Israelis.
Israel’s cabinet on October 23 approved funding for the establishment of a museum in Jerusalem dedicated to Albert Einstein. Slated to be located at the Hebrew University’s Edmond J. Safra Campus in Givat Ram, the museum will showcase the discoveries of the renowned Jewish physicist. The government pledged $6 million for the museum, while the university committed itself to raising another $12 million.
Jerusalem’s popular International Oud Festival is back for the 23rd time. Running from November 3 to 12, it includes music and musicians from Turkey, Iran, Greece and Israel. Attracting both Jewish and Arab audiences from across the country, as well as tourists, it presents performances in many of the capital’s large auditoriums. (Mordechai Beck)
Israeli athlete Lonah Chemtal Salpeter 28, came second in the New York Marathon women’s race on November 7, just seven seconds behind the winner, Sharon Lokedi of Kenya. Salpeter came to Israel from Kenya in 2008, married her athletics coach and became a citizen in 2016, enabling her to compete in two Olympics.
Hannah Pick-Goslar, one of Jewish diarist Anne Frank’s closest friends whom she called Hanneli, died in Jerusalem on October 30, just two weeks shy of her 94th birthday. Pick-Goslar recounted their friendship in a book by Alison Leslie Gold titled Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend, which was released as a film last year. Pick-Goslar immigrated n 1947 to what is now Israel, where she became a nurse, married, and had three children, 11 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren. She used to say of her large family, “This is my answer to Hitler,” the Anne Frank Foundation recalled.
