Last update - 01:26 30/01/2007
'We didn't believe it would happen in our town'
By Nir Hasson
Hani Azoulay works at a small grocery store in the strip mall where the attack occurred. Yesterday she arrived, as usual, at 8:30 A.M. Three workers from the Lehamim bakery - owners Emil Almaliakh and Michael Ben Sa'adon and employee Israel "Izzy" Samolia - had arrived hours ago to prepare bread for local hotels and restaurants.
"I came in to say good morning, as usual," she said. "About an hour later, I went outside and saw Mika. I waved and we both went back inside. Less than a second later, I heard an explosion. The whole store shook and the cigarettes fell off the walls."
Azoulay, like other residents of the neighborhood, assumed that the noise was a cooking gas cylinder that had exploded. No one thought it was a terrorist. Azoulay went into the bakery. "I saw the horror - arms, legs, things no one should see."
The little shopping center has two grocery stores, one falafel stand, a clothing shop and a kiosk. The residents call it "Isidore," after one of the veteran shop owners. This has also become the informal name of two neighborhoods in the vicinity known officially as Arava and Ophir.
Like dozens of other neighborhoods throughout the country, Arava and Ophir were removed earlier this month from the Housing Ministry's Neighborhood Renewal project, despite the fact that many of its buildings are still crying out for renovation.
Isidore was one of Eilat's first neighborhoods. Its residents are divided between long-term residents, most of them old, and renters. The renters are mainly young Israelis who came to the city for work; foreign workers from Africa, Thailand and elsewhere; and single-parent families.
According to Eli Gonen, director of the local community center, the neighborhood has the highest concentration of single-parent families in Israel. Many Arabs also live in the neighborhood. Some have been there for years. Residents are proud of the genuine coexistence among Isidore's Jews and Arabs. Gonen promises that even the terror attack will not undermine it.
Four young Arabs who live in the building across from the shopping center, however, were afraid to go into the street yesterday. Iyab Danial was born in Nazareth, but his family has lived in Eilat for years. He said that somebody told him and his Jewish girlfriend yesterday that "if they keep bringing in Arabs, there'll be more attacks here." Danial and his friends said that Jewish-Arab relations in Eilat in general and in the neighborhood in particular are good in comparison to other parts of Israel. Proof of that is that all four have Jewish girlfriends.
Residents were in shock after the attack. "We always say that the news gets tired on the Arava road, on the way to Eilat. There was a sense that Eilat was detached from the security tensions in Israel," Gonen said.
"We didn't believe it would happen here, in this neighborhood," said another local. "It's the most protected place. If an attack happened here, it can happen anywhere."
Emil Almaliakh opened Lehamim eight months ago. Three months ago, Michael Ben Sa'adon became his business partner. Their families said yesterday that the men had become good friends. "They were like hand and glove," said Leah Banita, Almaliakh's aunt.
Almaliakh, 23, was from one of Eilat's largest and oldest families, and dozens of relatives filled the family home yesterday. He was born and raised in Eilat, did his army service in an elite Golani patrol unit and did reserve duty in the Alpinist Unit, on Mount Hermon. Two years ago, his wife, Keren, gave birth to their daughter, Jan.
"When someone dies in a terror attack everyone always praises them, but he truly was the jewel in the crown. No one can compare, a wonderful son," said an uncle, Ayush Almaliakh.
Ben Sa'adon, 27, moved to Eilat about two years ago, and there he met his wife, Shani. He came to work as usual at 5 A.M. and returned home at 8:15 A.M. to take his eight-month-old son, Nahorai, to daycare. It was the last time Shani saw him. "He was clever, an amazing father and wonderful husband," she said. "No one had anything bad to say about him. I still can't believe it. All the people in the house now were here for our son's circumcision. It's like just another party and he'll walk in any minute."
"We had it as good as possible. He was the best thing that ever happened to me. Now I have to be strong for our son, to raise him the best I can," Shani added.
Israel Samolia, known to all as Izzy, was 26. He immigrated to Israel from Miami, Florida with his family several years ago. They all eventually went back to the United States, but three years ago, he returned to Israel on his own. His only known family in Israel is an aunt, who notified his family of his death. Samolia is survived by his parents and a sister.
After the explosion, the sign above the bakery was the only thing that remained in one piece. Everything else was destroyed. And Eilat's emergency services, like its residents, are clearly not accustomed to terror attacks: It took hours before the site was cleaned up, and several more hours after that before any officials came to talk with the victims' families.