St-Sgt Noam Apter

Dec 27, 2002 - St.-Sgt. Noam Apter, 23, of Shilo was one of four yeshiva students killed in Otniel while working in the yeshiva kitchen, serving the Shabbat meal to some 100 students in the adjacent dining room.

Around 7:30 P.M. Friday, two terrorists from the nearby village of Dura in the Hebron area infiltrated Otniel, cutting the fence. They wore army uniforms, carried M-16 rifles, ammunition and hand grenads. The yeshiva, located a short distance from the fence, is a large, well-lit building, and the terrorists chose it as their target. About 100 yeshiva students were gathered in the ground-floor dining hall, waiting for the Friday night Shabbat meal. The two terrorists began to spray the building with bullets from the outside and one entered the kitchen via a service entrance. The four unarmed yeshiva students who were working in the kitchen were killed.

St.-Sgt. Noam Apter, who was on kitchen duty, managed to lock the door to the adjoining dining room before he was shot dead, saving the lives of the students seated at the tables, who opened fire from the dining room. The two terrorists from the Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the attack, were later killed by IDF forces.

Noam attended the Kfar Haroeh yeshiva and then began his IDF service at the Otniel hesder yeshiva, combining Torah study with army service as a paratrooper. He considered going on to an officers training course, but decided first to take leave from the army to devote himself to study. He settled in Otniel, dividing his time between the yeshiva and voluntary work in the community.

St.-Sgt. Noam Apter was buried in Shilo. He is survived by his parents, Yossi and Pirhiya, both educators, and seven siblings. Noam's twin sister died in infancy.