Yonatan Gamliel

July 16, 2002 - Yonatan Gamliel, 16, of Emmanuel, was one of nine people killed in a terrorist attack on Dan bus no. 189 traveling from Bnei Brak to Emmanuel in Samaria.

A Palestinian terrorist cell, apparently dressed in IDF uniforms, ambushed a bus from Bnei Brak a few hundred meters from the entrance to Emmanuel. Shortly after 3:00 P.M. two 20-kilo bombs were set off about 200 meters from the town's entrance, damaging the bus's front tires and forcing it off the road.

The explosion damaged the bus doors, trapping the passengers inside. The terrorists then started to shoot at the bus, firing through the unprotected roof and throwing grenades through the narrow upper windows, which are not armored.

Yonatan Gamliel, the second in a family of seven children, was born in Emmanuel but spent most of his time studying in Bnei Brak. He was returning home from Bnei Brak for the summer holiday, having just completed three years of study at the Beit Shmayah yeshiva. He managed to phone his mother when the bus was attacked to say he was all right before he was killed.

Yonatan was to continue his studies at the Kol Yehuda yeshiva, also in Bnei Brak. Emmanuel Rabbi Yizthak Anaki described him as "a conscientious, talented and serious young man. He understood the true importance of his religious studies." He was planning to organize classes and other activities for youth during the summer in Emmanuel.

Yonatan Gamliel was buried in the Yarkon cemetery in Tel-Aviv. He is survived by his parents, Yair and Tamar, and six siblings - Merav, Michal, David-Shalom, Menuha-Hayaa, Hodaya and Shmuel-Hayim - aged 4 months.