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November 18, 2014 3:48 pm
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Druze Israeli Policeman Who Killed Terrorist Dies of His Wounds, Leaves Behind 7-Month-Old Daughter

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Jerusalem synagogue attack. Israel Police officer Zidan Sayif. Photo: Family.

Jerusalem synagogue attack. Israel Police officer Zidan Sayif. Photo: Family.

Druze Israeli Police officer Zidan Sayif, 27, died of his wounds late Tuesday, hours after a terror attack at a Jerusalem synagogue.

Family and friends at his bedside said they were proud he was the first on the scene to end the terrorist slaughter, Israel’s NRG News reported earlier in the day.

Two Palestinian terrorists entered the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue on Shimon Agassi St. in the city’s religious Har Nof neighborhood at about 07:00 a.m., opened fire with a weapon and struck worshipers with a meat cleaver and knives.

Zidan and another police officer were able to shoot and kill the assailants shortly after the attack on the religious complex, located at the western edge of the capital.

His family – a clan from the western Galilee village of Yanuh-Jatt said they are filled with pride for their heroic relative who helped stop the carnage which killed four rabbis, and wounded eight other worshipers.

As he lay dying, family members at his bedside at Hadassah Hospital – Ein Kerem said they hoped “he would be the last casualty,” and prayed Zidan – who was married with a seven-month-old daughter – would pull through.

“He is in a very, very difficult situation, and unable to undergo an operation or do more than give him medication to stabilize his condition,” his uncle, Sheikh Mahmoud Sayif, said at the time. “One bullet hit him in the nose and the bullet entered his brain, and it can’t be removed yet.

“We’re praying that he will recover, in spite of what I have seen: his situation is critical… his whole family and many from the village came down here to support the family,” Sheikh Sayif added hopefully.

Family members say they had feared for Zidan’s safety since his first day on the beat in Jerusalem. They see him as a hero, but know that in the face of bullets whizzing by, there are no heroes – only casualties.

“I hope he will be the last of the wounded in this situation, and particularly in Jerusalem. It is impossible to live like this; we must find a solution because this way leads to no solution for our side or the other. The solution can only be through discussions at the negotiating table,” Sheikh Sayif said before Zidan passed away. “I hope he’s the last casualty.”

Earlier, Sheikh Muafik Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community, spoke with Zidan’s family. “The Druze all pray for peace and we pray for recovery of all the injured, and send strength to their families,” Tarif said.

Many members of the Druze community serve in the security forces, including the police, IDF, and Shin Bet – Israel Security Agency, and are engaged in defense and counter-terrorism daily, Tarif noted.

“We are proud of our sons who act fearlessly in the face of terrorist attacks,” Tarif said. “This is a black day for Israeli society and the State of Israel, when its citizens are murdered just for being Jewish.

“The Druze community condemns with revulsion the act of terrorism in which a Palestinian terrorist massacred and slaughtered innocent civilians. Such a situation, in which the country’s citizens are murdered on a daily basis, cannot continue,” Tarif said, and praised Israel’s security forces.

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