Avi Hazan

Mar 4, 2002 - Avi Hazan, 37, of Moshav Adora, died of injuries suffered on March 2 in a suicide bombing near a yeshiva in the ultra-Orthodox Beit Yisrael neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, in which 11 people were killed.

Avi Hazan was the uncle of 13-year-old Naveh Hazan, who was celebrating his bar mitzvah at the Mahane Israel yeshiva. He never regained consciousness after sustaining severe cranial injuries from the blast and was pronounced clinically dead in the hospital's intensive care unit after brain surgery failed to improve his condition.

Avi Hazan, the youngest son of Ellen and Yitzhak Hazan, was born and raised in Kiryat Gat. His older brother said that although Avi was the youngest, he was seen as the head of the family. "He was the best, smart, and modest. He was the one who helped our old parents, and was the address for any of us if we wanted help." An accountant by profession, Avi Hazan opened his own office in Kiryat Gat. Ten years ago he met Yelena, 32, who immigrated to Israel from the Ukraine. They married and had two children: Tzahi (7), and Bar (2).

In 1994, the family moved to Moshav Adura, in the Hebron hills. "We fell in love with that place, with the scenery, with the neighbors. We lived with happiness and full of love," said Yelena. She added that her husband was their older son's best friend, and he devoted all his free time to him. Tzahi was with his father when the suicide bombing took place, but was uninjured.

Avi Hazan was buried in the Kiryat Gat cemetery. He is survived by his wife and two children.