Zilpa Kashi

July 16, 2002 - Zilpa Kashi, 65, of Givatayim, 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.

The Ayelet and Gal Shilon and their small children had spent Shabbat with Ayelet's parents Zilpa and Moshe Kashi in Givatayim. Ayelet had stayed on for a few days and was returning home by bus with the children. Her mother accompanied them to help with the infant twins. Zilpa Kashi and her granddaughter Sarah Tiferet, aged 8 months, were killed. Her daughter Ayelet and her grandson Or Hayim (2) were injured, while Sarah Tiferet's twin sister Galia Esther was unharmed. When the attack began, Ayelet Shilon phoned her husband, Gal, who was at home in Emmanuel. He rushed to their aid and was killed by gunfire.

Zilpa immigrated to Israel from Mashad in Iran 50 years ago. She went at least once a week to visit her two daughters and her grandchildren in Emmanuel. Five years ago she contracted cancer, but had overcome the disease.

Zilpa Kashi was buried in the Yarkon cemetery in Tel-Aviv. She is survived by her husband Moshe Mashiah, her daughters Ayelet and Iris, and grandchildren.