Andrei Friedman

Jan 5, 2003 - Andrei Friedman, 30, of Bat Yam, was one of 23 people killed when two suicide bombers blew themselves up on a pedestrian mall in Tel Aviv's Naveh Sha'anan neighborhood near the old central bus station.

Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack, which apparently was assisted by Islamic Jihad.

Friedman, who immigrated from Belarus four years ago, worked as a security guard at two jobs in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan. He was at the old bus station looking for additional work when he was killed.

"He was a good man," said his ex-wife, Oksana. "He loved his daughter and helped with her education." Oksana was struggling with how to tell his father, a heart patient in Belarus, and their four-year-old daughter about his death.

"We didn't tell him what happened, because we don't know how he'll behave when he hears," said a relative. "The daughter is too young, and doesn't understand what happened."

"How can I tell a four-year-old girl that her father was killed in a terrorist attack?" asked Oksana. "This morning she felt very ill in nursery school. Apparently she knew something was wrong."

Andrei Friedman was buried in Ashkelon. He is survived by his father and his daughter.