Thousands of Israelis gathered Sunday afternoon to bury two British-born sisters, Maia Dee (20) and Rina Dee (15), who were murdered by Palestinian terrorists on Friday. Their mother Lucy, 48, is still in critical condition.
The members of the Dee family were on a holiday drive through northern Samaria to visit the city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee when gunmen ambushed their car, forcing it off the road and then raking it with bullets.
Their anguished father, Rabbi Leo Dee, delivered a heart-wrenching eulogy calling for national unity in a time of division, and urging those present to focus on gratitude for what they had, rather than what they had lost.
The Times of Israel reported:
Speaking of his daughters while frequently choking with emotion, he recalled their dedication to their studies, their commitment to the country, and the hopes and dreams they had for the future.
“The formula for faith is always to focus on what you do have and not what you do not have. I still have three wonderful children and a wonderful wife,” he declared.
…
“Maia and Rina, you are two flames who have not gone out. You will bring more light to the world. You have inspired and loved us; in return, we will love you forever.”
Rabbi Dee, who served a community in the United Kingdom before moving to Israel, has three remaining children. His eldest daughter delivered a tearful eulogy for her siblings, one interrupted frequently by tears.
The terror attack has had a particular impact on the town of Efrat, a suburb south of Jerusalem near where Jews lived prior to the 1948 war of independence, when the area was captured by the Jordanian army. It was resettled after the defensive war of 1967, and is the home today of thousands of middle-class families, many of them observant Jews from English-speaking countries, including Britain, South Africa, and the United States.
There was an additional death Friday, when a Palestinian rammed his car into pedestrians in Tel Aviv in an apparent terror attack, killing an Italian tourist and injuring several other people.
Israel is currently suffering threats on multiple fronts, including threats from Iranian terrorist proxies like Hamas, while also suffering internal dissent at home that is being amplified by the left-wing opposition and the military establishment.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.