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Jews played a prominent role in Mandela’s African National Congress during the struggle against apartheid and Jewish lawyers famously defended him during his trial in the early 1960s. When he emerged from prison in 1990, Mandela forged strong personal bonds with the Jewish community and individual Jewish friends and colleagues.
“Nelson Mandela epitomised the miracle of South Africa’s democratic transformation,” Wendy Kahn, national director of the SAJBD said in a statement. “May his noble example inspire [us] and may his memory be a blessing for all humanity.”
Zichrono Li'vracha. May his memory be blessed.
A retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) colonel was murdered in a suspected terrorist attack outside of his home Thursday night.
Two men wielding iron bars and axes attacked Sariya Ofer and his wife outside their home in the northern Jordan valley. Ofer’s wife was able to flee and was transported to a hospital by a passing driver.
Earlier this evening, September 22, direct fire was opened at IDF soldiers in Hebron. As a result, an IDF soldier – Sgt. Gabriel Koby, age 20, from Tirat Hacarmel - was critically injured. The soldier was evacuated to a hospital in Israel where he died of his wounds.
Sgt. Koby participated in routine IDF activities defending the Jewish neighborhood of Hebron – including about 11,000 civilians currently visiting the area during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
The IDF is currently searching the area for the perpetrators. Movement in the immediate Hebron vicinity is temporarily restricted in order to prevent the perpetrators from fleeing the city.
IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner stated: “This lethal attack illustrates the complex security challenges the IDF faces on a daily basis in Judea and Samaria. The IDF will employ the necessary means – operational and intelligence – to apprehend those responsible for this deadly attack. The IDF will continue to act to prevent terror and safeguard the civilians of the State of Israel and its soldiers.”