Hebron terror victim dies
Genady Kofman, 41, a maintenance worker at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, was stabbed by a Palestinian as he left work on December 7. He has been been fighting for his life ever since the attack but yesterday he succumbed to his wounds.
“Despite the difficult and stubborn struggle of various teams for three and a half weeks, he did not survive his serious wounds,” the hospital said in a statement.
Kofman, who made aliyah from the Ukraine 21 years ago, lived in Kiryat Arba and was a married father of two.
The terrorist, a 21 year old from Hebron, arrived at a bus stop where Kofman was standing and stabbed him. Border Policemen stationed there saw the attack and shot the terrorist dead.
Malachi Levinger, head of the Kiryat Arba Council, spent the night at Kofman’s bedside. He said that “the family is in great pain. In recent days we prayed deeply for the recovery of our friend. We ask people to strengthen the family and the community in these difficult days.”
PM Netanyahu made a statement at a cabinet meeting today in response to Kofman’s death in which he sent condolences to the Kofman family and said, “I say to all those who would uproot us from the Tomb of the Patriarchs – except for a few years in the previous century, we have been there for almost 4,000 years and we will stay there forever. You cannot defeat us.”
