‘My son buried his father instead of celebrating his bar mitzvah’

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal, on Monday visited a survivor of the Iranian missile attack in Beit Shemesh who lost her husband and mother-in-law in the devastating hit that claimed the lives of nine people.

“My son is burying his father instead of celebrating his bar mitzvah today,” Pnina Cohen told the presidential couple from her hospital bed at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. She was wounded in the blast along with her 3-year-old son.

“My little one was next to me,” she went on to say in Hebrew. “Thank God, he was operated on his legs, and he is alright,” Cohen related. “I was wounded in the leg and underwent surgery.”

Recounting the tragedy on Sunday, she said that she had been in the synagogue with her family when the siren sounded and immediately ran to the bomb shelter,” noting that she had sheltered with her four children right beneath the entry point of the missile.

“We were sitting there and suddenly it happened. I was right beneath the hole that was torn open and I have no explanation for how we were not more seriously hurt. We experienced a great miracle. And despite all the pain, I feel that we were under great protection.”

Pnina’s husband, Yossi Cohen, and his mother, Bruria (Gloria) Cohen, were buried in Beit Shemesh on Monday.

Herzog told her, “I am deeply sorry for the heavy loss and the unimaginable pain. If there is anything we can do to assist, we are here for you in every way. Once you have recovered, we would be honored to meet your son and mark his bar mitzvah in a fitting and dignified manner.”

Herzog later tweeted that “a day that was supposed to be full of joy turned into a day of mourning and terrible loss. This is the cruel evil we are facing, an evil that targets innocent civilians, families and children. We embrace Pnina and her children, and send them condolences from the depths of our hearts in this difficult time.”