Jerusalem (HRNW)- Neria Leiter, the son of Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, was critically injured in a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday. Israeli officials said the attacker was shot and killed at the scene.
According to Israeli military and police reports, the attacker drove a vehicle into a security checkpoint near Beit Horon, striking Leiter, an Israel Defense Forces reservist who was serving alongside a police officer. The attacker was identified by Israeli security officials as 29-year-old Mahmoud Mohammad Sliman, from the nearby village of Beit Ur al-Tahta.
Leiter was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he underwent emergency brain surgery. Hospital officials said his condition was stabilized after the operation, but his life remained in danger and he continued to receive intensive medical treatment.
Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said in a social media statement that his son needed a miracle and expressed gratitude to the medical teams treating him. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also visited the family at the Jerusalem hospital and said he was praying for Leiter’s recovery.
The incident also has a personal connection to the family’s previous loss. Neria Leiter’s elder brother, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, was killed in northern Gaza in November 2023 while serving as an Israeli reservist.
The attack comes amid continuing Israeli-Palestinian tensions and security operations in the West Bank, where incidents involving Palestinian attackers, Israeli forces, and settlers have continued. Authorities are continuing to investigate the circumstances and background of the latest attack.
Support HRNW’s independent journalism and humanitarian reporting.
Donate now: www.hrnww.com/?page_id=1083
