Hundreds of friends and neighbors disregarded instructions from the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command to attend the funeral of Ashkelon resident Moshe Agadi on Sunday afternoon.
Agadi, 58, was killed early Sunday when a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit his home.
The crowds who showed up to accompany the father of four on his final journey included Knesset member Avi Dichter, who became the target of the mourners’ rage when the ceremony was over. Several demanded that the government take harsher action against the terrorist groups in Gaza.
Dozens of police officers and soldiers provided security at the cemetery. The funeral was punctuated by the sound of explosions from Gaza.
Out of concern that the mourners were exposed to rocket fire, the funeral was concluded in less than 30 minutes. Soldiers asked those in attendance to leave the cemetery quickly.
Tali, a relative of Agadi, said at the funeral, “It’s just unbelievable. I can’t believe it. He spent all Saturday reading Psalms, and when the siren went off, he meant to go directly to the safe room, but he didn’t make it.”
“It got him where he was standing. I don’t know where we’ll find another man like him,” she said.
Ashkelon Mayor Tomer Galam eulogized Agadi: “Today, we are laying to eternal rest Moshe Agadi, may his memory be a blessing, a resident of the city, who was killed when a rocket hit his house. The unbearable ease with which only yesterday Moshe was with us, spending Shabbat with his family, praying at the synagogue, talking and laughing, and now we are putting him in the ground, cannot continue.”
“This is a delusional, dangerous, incomprehensible reality that no citizen of Israel, no resident of the city of Ashkelon, no child, should be part of,” said Galam. “Even at this difficult time, we will continue to stand upright, to demonstrate stalwartness and strength, and let the terrorists who want to destroy us know that we will not give into them and we will not let them win. The blood of our soldiers and civilians won’t be spilled in vain.”
This article first appeared at Israel Hayom.
