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Miracle on Jaffa Road: Baby saved from terrorist's killing spree
By Anshel Pfeffer
Tags: terror attack, Israel 

Batsheva Unterman and her six-month-old daughter, Efrat, were on their way home from a visit to a medical center in Jerusalem Wednesday when terrorist Hussam Duwiyat deliberately crashed the bulldozer he was driving into their car as it turned onto Jaffa Road.

Jeremy Aharonson saw what had happened along with two other bystanders; they rushed to the vehicle where they saw Batsheva with her baby beside her.

"We saw the baby inside and she looked fine - she wasn't even crying," Aharonson recalls. "We tried to open the door but it was bent. They were shouting at us to stay back, that the car might explode, but two of us managed to pry the door open and take the baby out."
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A moment later, the terrorist again rammed his bulldozer into the car with Batsheva still inside, this time crushing it completely. It was the last vehicle he collided with before he was shot dead moments later.

Efrat was delivered unscathed into the hands of paramedics nearby. A rumor soon spread that her mother had saved her from the wreckage of her car just before she died. A team of medics checked the warped wreckage of the car to see if Batsheva was still alive inside, but she no longer had a pulse.

Unterman, who was 33 at the time of her death, was a resident of Jerusalem and worked as a kindergarten teacher for years at the Har Homa neighborhood. She was born in Israel to Rivka and James Lubenstein, a couple who immigrated from Holland.

She married London-born Ido Unterman, whose father, Isser Yehuda Unterman, was chief rabbi of Liverpool and Tel Aviv before he became Israel's chief rabbi between 1964 and 1973. For years, the couple underwent fertility treatment until their only child, Efrat, was born six months ago.

"Neither of them, Efrat and Ido, gave up on their dream to have children," said Meira Schwartz, a family friend. "Before Efrat was born, she treated all the kindergarten children like they were her own. She was a graceful kindergarten teacher with the utmost patience for each and every child."

After the attack that killed her mother, Efrat was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where she was examined. "The whole two hours we had her she was in the children's ward, in the hands of one of the ward's secretaries, showered with attention," said Amalia Oren, the director of the Kestenbaum Department of Social Work at Shaare Zedek.

Batsheva's husband Ido, an investment banker, was at work all day and had no idea that his wife had an appointment that put her at the site of the attack. He was only told that she had been killed hours after the event.

Efrat was delivered into her father's arms seven hours after the attack, which took place at noon. Around 20 minutes after he was reunited with his daughter, Ido set out for the morgue with his brother to identify his wife's body.
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