Aviel Haddad, who was killed in a shooting attack at a synagogue in Djerba, Tunisian, was laid to rest on Friday in the southern Israeli city of Netivot.
Haddad, 30, a dual Israeli-Tunisian, was killed on May 9 alongside his cousin Benjamin Haddad, a 42-year-old French citizen. Three security personnel were also killed when a Tunisian National Guard member opened fire on people near Ghriba Synagogue on Tuesday evening as Lag B’Omer celebrations were underway. A dozen others were injured.
“We thought he traveled to Djerba to find a wife, that we would see him happy at his wedding. In the end, he returned in a casket,” Haddad’s brother-in-law stated in his eulogy, according to Arutz Sheva.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi represented the government at the funeral. “The pain is great. I had the honor to meet Aviel and his family, who are connected to their roots in every part of their soul while keeping the Jewish tradition of Djerba. May they be comforted by the comfort of Zion,” he said.
Some believe that the synagogue—or at least, its antecedent—dates back to the exile after the destruction of either the First Temple (586 BCE) or the Second Temple (70 C.E.). The current building is from the late 19th century, apparently on the site of a former sixth-century synagogue.
