A video recalls the life and heroic death of one of four yeshiva
students murdered by terrorists in the southern Hevron Hills in 2002.
St.-Sgt. Noam Apter, 23, of the Samaria community of Shilo, and three
fellow yeshiva students were killed in Otniel while working in the
kitchen, serving the Shabbat meal to some 100 students in the
adjacent dining room.
Two terrorists from the nearby village of Dura in the Hebron area
infiltrated Otniel on a Friday night in December, cutting the fence.
They wore army uniforms, carried M-16 rifles, ammunition and hand
grenades.
The yeshiva, located a short distance from the fence, is located in a
large, well-lit building, and the terrorists chose it as their
target. About 100 yeshiva students were gathered in the ground-floor
dining hall, waiting for the Friday night Shabbat meal. The two
terrorists began to spray the building with bullets from the outside
and one entered the kitchen via a service entrance. The four unarmed
yeshiva students who were working in the kitchen were killed.
St.-Sgt. Noam Apter, who was on kitchen duty, managed to lock the
door to the adjoining dining room before he was shot dead, saving the
lives of the students seated at the tables, who opened fire from the
dining room. The two terrorists from the Islamic Jihad, which claimed
responsibility for the attack, were later killed by IDF forces.
Noam attended the Kfar HaRoeh yeshiva and then began his IDF service
at the Otniel hesder yeshiva, combining Torah study with army service
as a paratrooper. He considered going on to an officers training
course, but decided first to take leave from the army to devote
himself to Torah study. He settled in Otniel, dividing his time
between the yeshiva and voluntary work in the community.
