Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday paid a condolence visit to the Dee family in Efrat, after mother Lucy Dee and daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, were killed in a Palestinian terrorist attack.
The April 7 shooting took place on the Route 57 highway near the Hamra Junction. Terrorists opened fire on the Dees’ passing vehicle, causing it to crash into the road’s shoulder. The terrorists then approached the car and riddled it with nearly two dozen bullets.
“The Land of Israel is acquired through trials and tribulations,” Netanyahu told Rabbi Leo Dee on Sunday, adding, “Now, your wife and daughters will live within us.”
Rabbi Dee told the premier about the family’s aliyah and said that despite the tragedy, Lucy would have no regrets about fulfilling 2,000 years of Jewish longing by immigrating to Israel.
Tali Dee, one of Leo’s three surviving children, asked Netanyahu how he has dealt with the loss of his brother, Yoni, who was killed in action during the hostage-rescue mission carried out by Israel Defense Forces commandos at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on July 4, 1976.
Netanyahu replied that initially, he thought his life was over; however, he was told during the shiva, the Jewish week of mourning, that life goes on and while the pain of loss always remains, it decreases in intensity over time.
The IDF was continuing on Sunday to search for the terrorists who killed the Dees.
