Yafit Herenstein

Aug 10, 2002 - Yafit Herenstein, 31, of Moshav Mechora in the Jordan Valley, was killed and her husband, Arno, seriously wounded when a Palestinian terrorist infiltrated the moshav and opened fire outside their home.

Arno Herenstein served on the community's standby security team, and when the alert was sounded about the terrorist infiltration he raced in his car to his home to protect his wife and children. He arrived just as the terrorist shot and killed Yafit, and was himself shot while still behind the wheel.

The couple's two daughters - Shai aged two-and-a-half and Hen aged four months - were safely extracted from the home during a gun battle with the terrorist, who was killed by soldiers.

Yafit was raised on Mechola, where her parents, Shlomi and Iris Yihye, are founding members. Her mother was traveling abroad at the time of her death and the funeral was delayed for her return. Yafit and her husband had met at the Allenby Bridge crossing with Jordan, where they worked, and she was still on maternity leave when she was slain. She and Arno married in 1999 and had built a house on Mechora.

Yafit was beautiful inside and out," said her friend Hadar Zaken. "She had such a presence and everyone loved her." But she was also aware of the dangers of living in an isolated settlement, according to Zaken. "She would reiterate before every forum that it is dangerous here. She would say, 'Only when something terrible will happen will you say that I was right.' "

Herenstein was buried at the Gedera Cemetery.