Israeli Woman Murdered in Suspected Terror Attack Laid to Rest as IDF Beefs Up West Bank Forces
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by Benjamin Kerstein
Mourners embrace at the funeral of Esther Horgen, Dec. 22, 2020. Photo: Screenshot.
An Israeli woman who was murdered in an apparent terror attack was laid to rest on Tuesday, with her husband saying the meaning of her life was “to judge everyone fairly, to discover the good in each one and to strengthen it.”
Esther Horgen, a 52-year-old resident of the West Bank settlement of Tal Menashe, was found dead in a forest near her home after failing to return from a Sunday afternoon run.
Reports indicated that her death was violent, and Israeli security officials are treating the incident as a likely terror attack. No arrests have been announced yet.
The Israeli news site N12 reported that, at her funeral, her husband Binyamin said that she “always knew the way to everyone’s hearts.”
“The message she would have wanted to convey: to judge everyone fairly, to discover the good in each one and to strengthen it. And it begins with ourselves — first of all to love ourselves,” he implored.
“We will always continue on your path,” Benjamin pledged to his late wife.
Esther’s daughter Odelia called her mother “my best friend, the smartest in the world, the happiest and the most fun.”
‘You taught me how to live life without fear,” Odelia said. ‘Where are you now, mother?”
The community’s rabbi, Reuven Uziel, a friend of the family, said, “I don’t know if its my place to say, but you were beautiful. And your beauty — this is the greatest loss.”
“We are all longing and crying,” he said, “but we know that your holiness and happiness will continue to accompany us.”
Horgen’s murder, as well as the death of a young Israeli settler in a police chase on Monday, have prompted the IDF to bolster its forces in the West Bank.
The 16-year-old male, from the Bat Ayin settlement, was fleeing police after he was caught throwing rocks at Palestinian vehicles. A Palestinian bus driver was lightly injured by stones and pepper spray.
Israel’s Channel 13 reported that, following an assessment of the situation, Nahal Brigade forces would be beefed up and soldiers would be kept in the field until Friday.
