Officer Killed in Bnei Brak Terror Attack Honored on Memorial Day

Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM – Police officer Amir Khoury, who was killed while responding to a terror attack in Bnei Brak in March, was honored on Israel’s Memorial Day, Yom Hazikaron.

Khoury, 32. was shot as he reached the scene where terrorist Diaa Hamarsheh was firing on passersby on March 29th. Amir “died a hero,” his fiancée Shani Yashar said as she visited the site where he was killed, in footage aired Tuesday by Channel 13 news.

According to an eyewitness speaking to the channel, Hamarsheh had been aiming his rifle at a mother and her baby standing at a window in a nearby apartment when Khoury and his partner arrived.

The terrorist shifted his aim to open fire at the police, hitting Khoury. Moments later, Hamarsheh was shot and killed by the second officer, whose name cannot be published.

“He saved one life, which is the whole world,” Yashar said. “And I’m sure there are many others who he saved.”

“Amir Khoury sacrificed his life and jumped into the line of fire to save lives, together with his comrade-in-arms,” Bnei Brak Mayor Avraham Rubinstein said at the opening of the city’s Memorial Day commemoration. “Amir’s memory is etched in our hearts and will never be erased.”

An estimated 200 Bnei Brak residents attended Khoury’s funeral in the northern city of Nof Hagalil. He was a Christian Arab.

The city council has voted to name a street after him.

Amir Khoury’s name was added to the list of 24,068 members of security forces killed defending Israel or its pre-state Jewish communities, honored each year on the day before Israel Independence Day.

Stay on top of the latest news by signing up for Hamodia WhatsApp status by clicking here