Galit Arbiv

Feb 25, 2002 - Police officer 1st Sgt. Galit Arbiv, 21, of Nesher, died after being fatally shot, when a terrorist opened fire at a bus stop in the Neve Ya'akov residential neighbhorhood in northern Jerusalem.

The attack began on Monday evening when the terrorist opened fire at a group of pedestrians and at residents inside an apartment building, near the last stop of the No. 25 bus in Neve Ya'akov. Police from the station just down the road, raced to the scene, and in the ensuing shoot-out the terrorist, two policemen, and a policewoman were all seriously wounded. The policewoman, 1st Sgt. Galit Arbiv, was fatally shot and died of her wounds the following morning.

Galit grew up in Nesher, north of Haifa. The principal of the local high school, where she majored in accounting, praised her leadership qualities. A high school friend, Shiraz Nahmani, said Galit was determined to enlist in a combat unit and was happy with her service in the Border Police.

Galit joined the Jerusalem police force earlier this year after completing her compulsory military service in the Border Police, also in Jerusalem. She completed a police officer's course just two weeks ago. One of the first to reach the scene of the terrorist attack, she was fatally wounded. Her direct commander, Haggai Dotan, said she was a "daring young woman who chose to exercise her potential to the utmost until the very end."

Jerusalem Police Chief Miki Levy said, "She was a highly motivated police woman with great potential, who specifically asked to be stationed in Jerusalem. She saw police work as her mission. She acted with great courage in confronting the terrorist."

Galit Arbiv was laid to rest in Nesher. She is survived by her parents, Ruth and Amram, and her younger brother Liran (16).