Shelly Dadon, the 20-year-old resident of Afula whose body was found on Thursday in the woods near Migdal Haemek. Photo: Dadon family.

A thousand people attended the Saturday night funeral of 20-year-old Shelly Dadon, found murdered outside the northern Israeli town of Migdal Haemek last Thursday in an abandoned parking lot, according to Israel National News on Monday.

Rabbi Yitzhak David Grossman, the rabbi of Migdal Haemek who spoke at the funeral, said, “Her only sin was being Jewish,” in reference to suspicions that the crime was committed by an Arab to show his distaste for the Israeli nation, as reports said there was no sign of robbery or sexual assault.

“We are here in pain, sorrow and astonishment,” Rabbi Grossman said. “This tragedy, this brutal murder happened in our town.”

The rabbi spoke of the Torah’s teaching of Eglah Arufa, a special procedure described in Deuteronomy for when someone is found dead by unknown hands outside a city.

“The Torah tells us that our elders need to leave the city and declare that ‘our hands did not shed this blood,'” Grossman said.

Ya’akov Dadon, the victim’s father, said: “I stand here in front of her grave fresh, and refuse to believe. This tragedy happened to us.  Our flower, our angel, the princess of the house is gone. She was killed before her time.”

“It is difficult to talk about you in the past tense, but reality now strikes us,” he said. “This is a very great loss. It is impossible to find words to comfort us.”

“The smile was the symbol of your inner and outer beauty, which shined. Your illumination of our home and on our family made us all proud of who you are.”

Watch video of Shelly Dadon’s funeral below: