Viktor Shebayev

Jan 5, 2003 - Viktor Shebayev, 62, of Holon, 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.

Viktor Shebayev, a mechanical engineer, was waiting for a bus on his way home from work when the terrorists struck.

The Shebayev family immigrated to Israel from Ukraine in 1996. His older sister, Hannah Aharonov, last spoke with him when they exchanged greetings on New Year's eve. "We wished each other the best blessings for a quiet and happy year, and now what? How can it be, we came to live here in Israel, it's our country! We didn't come here to die!"

"Viktor was an especially intelligent person, who was always meticulously and elegantly dressed," said neighbor Yossi Banai. "Politically he was right-wing, and always said it was forbidden to give in to Arafat; that we should hit them back and never be silent. He was a very caring person."

Viktor Shebayev was buried in Holon. He is survived by his wife, Yelena, his son, Vladislav, two daughters from a previous marriage who remained in Ukraine, and two sisters in Israel.