Hillel Menachem Yaniv and Yagel Ya’acov Yaniv, two brothers from the Har Bracha settlement in Samaria, were killed in a terrorist shooting attack in Huwara on Sunday afternoon.
Hillel was studying in the Kiryat Shmona Hesder Yeshiva and had recently completed his service in the Navy. Yagel was studying in the Givat Olga Hesder Yeshiva and had helped establish a branch of the yeshiva in Tirat Carmel. He was set to start the recruitment process for combat service in the IDF soon.
Yagel was to turn 20 in two weeks.
In a message to the youth of Har Bracha, their mother, Esti Yaniv, said: “We have suffered a huge slap in the face from God. We are trying to find the good things and the grace that we were prepared, that we had a family Shabbat, that we had good conversations with the boys yesterday, that we took family photos. God sends us graces. Even with this painful blow, He sends us graces.”
"We have suffered a huge slap in the face from God. We are trying to find the good things and the grace that we were prepared, that we had a family Shabbat, that we had good conversations with the boys yesterday, that we took family photos. God sends us graces, even with this painful blow he sends us graces."
Esti Yaniv
“We have a huge hole in our heart; nothing will ever fill this hole – not construction, not protests, nothing,” she said. “Even family celebrations will be just a Band-Aid. This hole will remain, and we will learn to live with it and to live with it in joy and to continue and to draw strength from you and our children... There are no words that can console us.”
The brothers will be buried next to each other on Monday, in Jerusalem's Mount Herzel, according to Walla News.
"There are no words that can console us"
She called on the youth to learn Torah and to do significant service in the IDF.
The parents of the victims arrived at the scene of the attack on Sunday evening with the head of the Samaria Regional Council and their sons’ friends and recited Tehillim. The victims’ grandfather said: “Two holy ones, my grandsons Hillel and Yagel, ascended to heaven. They will pray for us from above – for the people of Israel, the land of Israel and the Torah of Israel.”
The Israel National Transplant Center announced that the victims’ parents had agreed for the boys’ organs to be donated, as they carried Adi cards, which testified to their willingness to donate their organs after death. Their corneas will be provided to people awaiting transplants to restore their sight.
The Hesder Yeshivot Association mourned the loss of the two brothers on Sunday.
“We pray for the strengthening of the dear family, their friends in the yeshiva and the settlement, and all of Israel,” it said in a statement.
Uri Pinsky, head of the association, said the two brothers were on their way from their home to their yeshivot when they were murdered.
“We would like to send a big hug to the dear family, to the settlement of Har Bracha, to the Kiryat Shmona and Givat Olga yeshivot, and to all the students of the hesder yeshivot and Torah students everywhere and anywhere, and call from here on the IDF and the government of Israel not to rest or be quiet until security is restored everywhere throughout our country, to exterminate our wicked enemies and to allow a Jew to travel to yeshiva, home and anywhere he wants with security,” he said.
Yonatan Asher, a friend of Hillel’s, said: “We are sitting here in the yeshiva, Hillel’s friends for the fourth year in the yeshiva. We don’t know how to process the evil decree that fell on the family and on us.”
“We had a conversation after the horrible attack with the rabbis, and I said that I didn’t admire too many people in my life, but I admired Hillel,” he said. “He always knew the right thing to do, transmitting confidence and peace to his friends. From the first moment, it was clear that this was a special guy, self-confident, eloquent, a leader and a good friend.”
“Everyone knew that Purim was his holiday. He was always at the center of things on this holiday. Unfortunately, we won’t get to spend time with him again,” Asher said.
Sagi Ben Lisha, director of the Givat Olga Hesder Yeshiva, eulogized Yagel.
“Yagel was the salt of the Earth, a beautiful boy inside and out and the first to volunteer when needed,” he said. “We wanted to establish a branch in Tirat Carmel, and he was one of the first there. He was sweet and serious, a generous and beloved guy who was always happy to help with a kind eye and a willing soul. He would walk barefoot in the streets of Tirat Carmel out of simplicity and humility.”