Last update - 00:00 31/01/2007
Eilat tries to collect itself as it grieves its loss
By Revital Levy-Stein and Jack Khoury
Cheli Azoulai, the cashier at the neighborhood grocery next to the bakery where the terrorist attack occurred Monday, stood behind the counter at work. "I actually slept well last night, but when I woke up in the morning I saw the pictures of Emi, Michael and Izzy on television, and I started crying again." Azoulai was standing there on Monday, at the very spot behind the counter, when the suicide bomber exploded in the Isidore commercial center in the Arava neighborhood.
Aviran Makhil, an employee of the neighborhood grocery store, unloaded crates of goods that arrived early in the morning. The grocery was closed the day before yesterday, because of the attack. "Every evening I bought fresh bourekas there. I am used to saying good morning to them every day, and to Izzy, who was a friend of mine. Now I have no one to say good morning to."
Everyone knows everyone
The nature of neighborhood commercial centers is that everyone knows everyone. This is even truer at the Isidore center, located at the heart of an old neighborhood in Eilat. Most of the customers are regulars who grew up in the area, and are now raising their own family there.
Most of the people at the commercial center, customers and vendors, could be found at the cemetery in Eilat during the funerals.
Immigration Minister Ze'ev Boim, who attended the funeral of one of the victims, also spoke of the resort town of Eilat, saying that "we will not allow Eilat, whose very essence is peace and serenity, calm and freedom, to become the victim of disgraceful acts of terror. Egypt cannot wash its hands of this. If it does not join us in the struggle to destroy terror, it will become its victim."
No tenseness
The tourist district in Eilat showed no signs of tenseness. Large police and security forces that spread throughout the town were careful not to attract attention and disturb vacationers.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced yesterday that the area surrounding Eilat would receive priority in budgeting from the Defense Ministry, in order to shore up security measures. "Solutions would be provided within the coming days. Eilat deserves full defenses, particularly as a center that interfaces with countries all over the world. The issue will be followed closely by the defense forces," Peretz told Meir Yitzhak-Halevy, mayor of Eilat. Yitzhak-Halevy noted that the fact that Eilat is a strategic asset has also been recognized by attackers, and that he "hopes the town had not been singled out by these organizations. We want to get back to our daily lives tomorrow, and we will need to receive a great deal of support to ensure that such incidents do not create a crisis."