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Gillad Zar |
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 | 7 sivan 5771 (25/05/01) Gillad Zar The security officer of Shomron was shot dead during a patrol
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| Zar was shot dead yesterday morning at the Jat junction east of the Kedumim as he drove by in his four-wheel drive patrol vehicle. An ambush involving at least two gunmen, said IDF sources, shot at him from the distance, then approached the car and fired at least two full magazines of ammunition into the car and its driver. An organization calling itself The Regiment of Al-Aqsa Martyrs informed wire services in Beirut that it was responsible for the murder.
Gilad Zar, one of the founders of Itamar, was the son of Moshe Zar, convicted in the mid-1980s as a member of the Jewish Underground, for serving as the driver of the getaway car when members of the underground planted bombs that crippled then Nablus Mayor Bassam Shaka. He spent only a few months in prison, and was released for reasons of health.
Moshe Zar is one of the leading Jewish land dealers in the West Bank, and is known as one of the key financiers behind Gush Emunim and the Jewish enclave in Hebron. Arabs once attacked him with an ax, plunging it into his skull. He nonetheless managed to reach safety and hospital and later continued his work, which in one of his rare statements to the press he called "redeeming the land for Israel."
Judea and Samaria Commander Brig. Gen. Benny Gantz yesterday said the army had no proof that Gilad Zar was specifically targeted by the ambushers. But participants in the funeral were convinced that Gilad, who only two months ago was shot under similar circumstances, but like his father before him managed to reach safety and hospital, was indeed targeted.
At one point, near Itamar, an exchange of fire between Palestinians from a nearby village and IDF troops in the area prevented the convoy from continuing.
At each stop on the way, eulogists spoke of Gilad Zar's selfless work on behalf of the settlement community - and lashed out at the government. Moshe Zar was heard asking "where's Arik Sharon, my personal friend. Is he afraid to show his face?"
In addition to his wife, he left eight children, the oldest 15, and the youngest a few months old.
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Francais 