Israeli Security Guard Killed in Friday's Shooting Attack Was Laid to Rest
23-year-old Vyacheslav Golev was shot and killed in a terrorist attack near the entrance to the Ariel settlement
The Israeli security guard who was killed in Friday's terrorist attack near the West Bank settlement of Ariel was laid to rest in his hometown of Beit Shemesh.
"Our dear Vladi Daniel, you are a hero. That's how we will always remember you. You stood like a brick wall in front of your fiancée Victoria and defended her and the soul of the city of Ariel. You were as solid as a rock. You are the story of the State of Israel," Beit Shemesh mayor said during the eulogy.
"You had such a big heart. I will tell your grandchildren about you. You will be an example for them," Golev's cousin said at the funeral.
Vyacheslav Golev, 23, was shot and killed at the entrance to Ariel while shielding his fiancée, Victoria Fligelman, who was the other guard at the post. Golov was the eldest of eight siblings in an ultra-Orthodox family hailing from the city of Bet Shemesh, near Jerusalem, and was renting an apartment in Ariel.
On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed his condolences to the family and said that "there is no terrorist that we will not reach, and settle the score. Our war with terror is long, and together we will win."
Soon after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces said two assailants driving a car with an Israeli license plate arrived at the guard post and opened fire at the two security guards. The IDF and anti-terror units arrested the two suspects, Yusuf 'Assi and Yahya Ma'ari, in their twenties, in the northern West Bank town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, after an investigation by the Shin Bet security service.
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On Sunday, the Israeli army arrested the father of one of the suspects on allegations that he abetted the suspects by giving them a ride home after the attack. At this point it is unclear whether the suspect's father knew that the two had committed a terror attack.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah's militant wing, took responsibility for the attack.
Over the past month of Ramadan, tensions between Israeli security forces and Palestinians have been especially high, particularly over Ramadan prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The past two months have witnessed a string of Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have left 16 dead. At least 27 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank, some related to locating suspects behind the terror attacks.