Oct 16, 2005 - Kineret Mandel, 23, of Carmel was one of three killed in a drive-by shooting at a hitchhiking stop at the Gush Etzion junction south of Jerusalem. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
Kineret Mandel and her cousin, Matat Adler, were returning home from Jerusalem. A car from Carmel drove past and picked up hitchhikers, but there was no room for the two young women. A few minutes later, they were killed in the attack along with Oz Ben-Meir and three others were wounded.
Kineret's mother, Rivka Mandel, and Matat's father, Naftali Rosenfeld, are brother and sister. Carmel's spokesman related that Kineret was the first child born in Carmel after the community was established 24 years ago. "She was a girl that no words could describe. She was beautiful inside and outside. She had only the best of the best in her."
Kineret studied at a women's academy in Kiryat Arba, before studying economics in Jerusalem. She spent two years in national service in Beit Moriah, Beersheva, teaching and helping needy families. Kineret recently began teaching at a Gush Etzion school.
Kineret Mandel was buried in Jerusalem. She is survived by her parents, Itamar and Rivka, and three brothers.