The Silenced Bereavement | Bereaved Families Cry Out: "They Said It Was a Car Accident, But We Knew It Was an Attack"

They lost their dearest yet didn't join the national bereavement family. The attack in which their loved ones died was classified as a car accident. There isn't enough evidence to prove otherwise, nor surveillance footage; only the personal testimony of those who witnessed the events firsthand, assuring it wasn't human error. On the upcoming Memorial Day, their cases will remain private. Tzofia Tal Getz and Rivka Zinman recount.

"Everyone's Loss"

"It happened about 37 years ago, at the beginning of the First Intifada. My father left our home in Neve Tzuf heading towards Jerusalem. Along the way, a transit vehicle was in front of him, and he moved his car slightly to see if he could overtake. At that moment, a truck driven by a Palestinian driver came and crashed into him. The event investigation indicated significant friction with the road and a strong swerve left towards my father's vehicle, suggesting a deliberate accident.

Yair Getz

How do you feel about it today?

"I live with a very harsh experience within me. I want to scream the cry of nationalist grief, because Arabs intentionally killed my father. But there's no document recognizing it, so the mourning became private. There's something embracing in public recognition, making me part of this country's story, part of the nation's building narrative. A car accident, however, diminishes the sacrifice. It also pains me that my mother raised us with her bare teeth, without recognition and external support. My grandfather, the rabbi of the Western Wall, once fought for this recognition, and at some point decided to let it go. Within the family, we see it entirely as a nationalist death, yet there's something in this recognition that stands tall, making it everyone's loss."

"The Car Accelerated Towards Us"

Rivka Zinman lost her son Matan about 9 months ago. "It was during the summer vacation; the whole family traveled for a festive dinner in Ariel, and on the way back we drove in two cars - my husband with two kids, and I with four", she recalls the last peaceful moments. "At some point, a vehicle came from the opposite lane, crossed the white lines, and sped towards me. I tried to escape to the side, unsuccessfully. The car facing me had enough time to brake, but instead accelerated and hit us forcefully. In this attack, our six-year-old son Matan was killed."

The event, lacking typical attack characteristics, was classified as a car accident. "There were no guns or knives involved, and it's impossible to truly know the assailant's motives", Rivka says with pain. "The driver was lightly injured, released the next day from the hospital, and later released on bail. She now walks free, and if an indictment is pursued against her, she faces a maximum three-year sentence. She lives in the Palestinian Authority, and the State of Israel cannot adequately enforce against her, so chances of it happening are slim. The law in this area feels more like a bad joke."

Matan Zinman

How do you feel about it?

"It burns, angers, boils, and offends, but we're still so close to the event that the pain of loss and the need to face trauma and injury put this issue aside for now. However, I see how since our case more action has been taken. Both in terms of police enforcement, removing more offending vehicles from the roads, and promoting the widening of the accident-prone road. The fact that things started moving provides a glimpse of light within all the pain. I wish this driver and others like her would receive maximum punishment, and in general, for us as a nation to have a backbone, but there's more work to be done."

Do you sometimes ask Hashem why it happened like this?

"I stand before Him without the ability to utter a word, because on one side we saw great kindness, and on the other - such concealments. For example, about a month before the event, we reinforced the car against stones; had we not done so, all the glass shards would have fallen on us. Besides Matan, who was killed, we all survived and healed fully. On the flip side, a tree at the scene obscured the event in surveillance cameras; also, the fact it was a female driver implies a lighter sentence, not harsher. So what can be said? Only that everything is supervised and it's Hashem's will, even when we don't understand."

What brings comfort is the great support Rivka received from all over the nation. "From the beginning, it wasn't just our private incident. We felt that the people of Israel were with us, watching and loving us. It was widely covered in the media and sparked waves of action. All these things give strength."

It turns out that these aren't the only cases of attacks with such characteristics. About a month ago, the girl Hadar Lavi, just two years old, was killed. Her mother, Edit, reported the attack as a vehicular incident: "Shortly after Ofra, a car entered my lane, I saw the driver looking at me, and to save myself I entered his lane. He didn't give up and returned to his lane; I also went back to mine, but he managed to hit me head-on." For Edit, it was clear it was an attack, but due to lack of evidence, it was classified as a road accident. The parents' pain still pounds strongly, and on the upcoming Memorial Day - with or without official recognition, they will also gather in mourning.

Hadar Lavi