Staff Reports
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, revealed this week that his son, reservist Neria Dov ben Chana Leiter, lies fighting for his life after a car‑ramming attack at the Maccabim checkpoint on Route 443. Doctors at Shaare Zedek Medical Center are working to save him, and the family has asked the nation to pray for a miracle. This isn’t just a personal tragedy for one diplomatic family — it is a stark reminder that terrorism at West Bank checkpoints is a real and present danger.
What happened at the Maccabim checkpoint
The Israel Defense Forces say the attacker drove into a joint police–IDF patrol at the Maccabim/Bell checkpoint west of Ramallah. Security forces at the scene “eliminated” the suspect, identified in reporting as Mahmoud (Muhammad) Suleiman from a nearby village. Neria Leiter was struck, seriously injured, and rushed to Shaare Zedek for trauma care. Multiple outlets report he is in critical condition and being treated in intensive care. The IDF’s quick action stopped additional harm, but nothing undoes the damage already done.
Official response and the call for unity
Top Israeli leaders rallied immediately. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog sent messages of support; Defense Minister Israel Katz and other officials also publicly backed the family and praised the medical teams and the IDF. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee joined other diplomats in offering solidarity. Ambassador Leiter’s post asking for prayers and noting his son continued reserve service after the family’s earlier loss struck a chord — the country is watching, praying, and asking hard questions about security.
That earlier loss is vital context. One of Ambassador Leiter’s other sons, Maj. Moshe Yedidya Leiter, was killed while serving in Gaza during the war that followed Hamas’s massacre in 2023. Neria kept serving in the reserves after that sacrifice. This family’s pain underlines the hard truth: regular citizens, reservists and diplomats’ families shoulder the cost of a conflict that enemies keep trying to export to Israeli streets and checkpoints. Vehicle‑ramming has become a tactic because it’s cheap and lethal; the only adequate response is strong security and clear resolve, not moralizing or second‑guessing from afar.
As we watch for updates from Shaare Zedek and the IDF investigation, the message should be simple: stand with the family, back Israel’s right to protect its people, and demand tough, practical measures to stop more attacks at checkpoints. Pray for Neria. Hold leaders accountable for security. And spare us the predictable calls for “restraint” that ignore the victims on the ground — if protecting citizens looks like force, that is not a scandal, it’s the job.
