BICOM

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox mourners travelled from Jerusalem to the Galilee to join the funeral of Zidan Saif, a Druze policeman who was killed while trying to stop the terror attack on a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday. Mr Saif succumbed to his wounds on Tuesday night.

In an unusual show of gratitude residents of the Har Nof community, where the synagogue which was attacked is located, paid for buses and travelled to the cemetery.

President Reuven Rivlin spoke passionately at the funeral, saying: “He stood first against the fire to defend the residents of Jerusalem. Fearless, he stood against the terrorists and he gave his live to defend the residents of Jerusalem. He acted according to the values he was raised on: strong-heartedness, courage, sacrifice and self-sacrifice.”

“Terrorism has returned to Jerusalem – terrorism which does not distinguish between man and man, between blood and blood … The murderers’ bullet took Saif’s life, but this bullet cannot break the shared lives, living together. We will not let terror win.”

Rabbi Mordechai Rubin, the head of the synagogue which was the site of the killings, eulogised Saif:

“We came from Jerusalem, from the place of the massacre … simply to be with you and to cry with you … The loss of Zidan is our loss as well as that of the Druze community and we feel, especially at times like this, a kinship with the Druze community. The devotion and the determination of Zidan should be an example to us all — to the Druze and to the Jews.”

President Rivlin also gave an interview to Channel 2 yesterday evening in which he stressed that Israel was not at war with Islam: “We have no dispute with Islam. We did not have, we will not have, and today, too, we don’t have … We need to make it clear to everyone.”

Yesterday, the home of home of Abdel-Rahman Shaloudi, who killed two people including a baby last month in a car attack, was demolished. This was the first punitive home demolition in Jerusalem for several years.