Terror victim Meir Tamari was buried in Shaked in Samaria on Wednesday, a day after being shot near the Jewish community of Hermesh.
Tamari sustained a bullet wound to the upper body and was evacuated by helicopter to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, where he was pronounced dead.
Tamari was buried on his 32nd birthday.
“Today we were supposed to have a fun day with the children, to celebrate your birthday. Instead of congratulating you, we are here eulogizing you. This is a reality that does not make sense. It does not make sense that our sweet children will not get to see your light, to experience you more, grow with you and learn with you – your goodness and your giving. We were supposed to grow old together and have more children. To do so many things. Now I’m alone with them. I can only hope that I can instill your values in them. I promise they will know they had the most amazing father in the world.”
“Your light illuminated every part of my life, it was perfect thanks to you. Every conversation, every argument, every hug – everything was perfect. I didn’t get enough time with you, just not enough. I want to get up with you in the morning and go to bed with you at night until the end. That you come home from work and that we all hug together as a family. We are supposed to live in security and come home to the family. Any other reality is not acceptable.”
“I promise you that I will take care of our treasures and give them as much love as I can every day. I promise that I will try to fulfill the wishes you had, the things you wanted to do and build. You were all about doing, building and giving. Trying to make our lives better every moment. How much it was important to you that we be united and be together. You lit up very room you entered. I love you, love you always. You will always be in my heart, for all of us,” she concluded.
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Safed, eulogized Tamari. He began by quoting the prophet Hosea:
[False] swearing, dishonesty, and murder, And theft and adultery are rife; Crime follows upon crime! Hosea 4:2
“The blood of the Horgan family, and the blood of the Tamari family, this is blood that was senselessly spilled by people who think that if they harm us we will get up and leave Israel,” Rabbi Eliyahu said. “The person who lifted his hand to kill Meir didn’t know that the nation of Israel is a stiff-necked nation in the best possible meaning of the phrase. The person who did this lifted his hand against the One who declared that the world shall be. Empires did not succeed in breaking us. We came here to the Land of Israel through a promise by God. That is why we are in the Shomron (Samaria). God promised that Again you shall plant vineyards On the hills of Shomron; Men shall plant and live to enjoy them (Jeremiah 31:4). And God does not go back on his promise.”
“The nation of Israel will continue to flourish, to grow, and to build,” Rabbi Eliyahu said, quoting Psalms:
The righteous bloom like a date-palm; they thrive like a cedar in Lebanon; Psalms 92:1
“And, thank God, the nation of Israel is flourishing,” the rabbi said. “And whoever thinks that he can raise his hand against the Jews, they will suffer the same fate as nations like Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.”
We came to here after 2,000 years from all the corners of the world, because of the ancient promises. These things need to be translated so that the Arabs who live here will know and ask themselves why they are attacking the Jews, why they killed Meir, and why they are attacking the One who spoke and created the world. The one who raise his hand and attacked will never atone. What does the cursed murderer think, that he will go to heaven? That he won’t descend to Gehenom? He needs to know that everything they promised him is a lie.”
But the Tamari family lives on, in their hour of pain. It is the pain of a family. It is the pain of the nation of Israel. We are all here with you. We all love you. We are all here to strengthen you. We are all her in the Shomron with you, from everywhere in the world, we are with you.”
Tamari moved to Hermesh four years ago after he married Tal, who grew up in the town. Tamari is survived by his wife and two children; Yahav, aged one, and Alma, aged three. Tal is a full-time mother and Israel365 is organizing a campaign to raise $72,000 to provide her with financial stability for the next two years. To donate, please click here.
Israel365 has learned that the family was touched by tragedy not so long ago. Meir’s mother-in-law married Binyamin Horgan, the widower of Esther Horgan. Horgan, a 52-year-old mother of six, was murdered in December 2020 while jogging in the Shaked Forest near her home in Tal Menashe, Shomron. In the wake of the tragedy, Israel365 and its family of supporters ran a campaign that helped the family to recover from its loss. Israel365 also produced a special illustrated edition of the Book of Esther in Esther’s memory, featuring her artwork and poetry.
Hermesh, a mostly secular community of about 240 Jews and non-Jews, has had more than its share of tragedy since it was established almost 40 years ago. In 2002, a terrorist from Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade armed with an automatic weapon entered the community and murdered Orna Eshel (53), Hadas Turgeman (14), and Linoy Saroussi (14). In 2005, a resident of the community, Yevgeny Reider (28), was murdered in an Islamic Jihad shooting attack.
Samaria Regional Council chief Yossi Dagan demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu take concrete steps to prevent Palestinian terrorist attacks.
“Wherever there is no settlement, there is terrorism. We will increase settlement, both to honor God and to strengthen the State of Israel,” Dagan said at the funeral.
“We cry out to the prime minister, the defense minister and other government ministers: This murder could have been prevented. Why did you close the checkpoints? Why didn’t you go on a military campaign against the Palestinian Terror Authority? We demand answers. Jewish blood cannot be forfeit,” he continued.
The manhunt for the terrorist that killed Tamari is ongoing.
Dagan’s council earlier Wednesday called for an “Operation Defensive Shield 2” in the wake of dozens of shootings, stone-throwings and Molotov cocktail attacks that take place regularly in Samaria.
“Operation Defensive Shield” took place in 2002 in the midst of the Second Intifada. IDF units entered major Arab cities in Judea and Samaria to stop ongoing terrorism. It was launched two days after the Passover massacre, when a Palestinian suicide bomber attacked a seder dinner at Netanya’s Park Hotel, killing 30 civilians and wounding 140.
