Sept 21, 2005 - Sasson Nuriel, 55, of Jerusalem was kidnapped and slain by Palestinian terrorists. His body was found on September 26 in a garbage dump in the industrial zone of Bitunya, west of Ramallah.
Sasson Nuriel, formerly a self-employed candy manufacturer in the Mishor Adumim industrial zone east of Jerusalem, was forced to close his business due to financial difficulties and had worked recently as an independent contractor at the nearby Maya spice factory. Udi Wertheimer, one of the factory owners, who knew Nuriel for many years, related, "Nuriel was a great expert in candy manufacturing and produced candy and chocolates on our premises. One of his areas of expertise was the buying and selling of inexpensive machinery for the manufacture of sweets in Gaza, Ramallah and Atarot. He spoke Arabic fluently. He always lived with Arabs and had no fear of them. All his friends were Arabs from the territories," Wertheimer said.
On Wednesday, September 21, Nuriel apparently left the factory to buy chocolate, and never returned. When he failed to return home after work, his family informed the police that he was missing.
As Nuriel had business connections with many Palestinians, an investigation was mounted, and the area was combed extensively in an effort to locate him. Acting on the intelligence, investigators managed to track the Hamas cell involved in the kidnapping and arrested one of its members. The arrested terrorist revealed that they had planned to kidnap Nuriel and keep him alive in a hideout in Ramallah, and disclosed the apartment's address. However, when security forces went to the location there was no evidence of Nuriel having been held there. Following further questioning, the Hamas terrorist disclosed the location of Nuriel's body, who was apparently killed shortly after his abduction. Hamas claimed responsibility for his abduction and murder in a video it broadcast worldwide.
The arrest of the Hamas terror cell responsible for the attack in October 2005 revealed that the two men who kidnapped Nuriel had apparently worked in his candy factory in Mishor Adumim. The pair lured Nuriel to the village of a-Ram, north of Jerusalem, ostensibly to buy a coffee machine. On the way to the village, they abducted him at gunpoint. Nuriel was taken to an apartment in Ramallah and videotaped making a coerced statement there. The initial plan was to exchange him for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, but shortly after abducting Nuriel, his captors panicked and led him to the garbage dump in the village Betunia, west of Ramallah, where they stabbed him to death.
Nuriel's widow, Ronit, described her husband Sassi as the love of her life, the most wonderful, warm and loving person. "He was a family man, a devoted father, husband, friend and brother. He worked for many years with Arabs and respected them, as he respected every human being."
Sasson Nuriel was buried in the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem.