Mordechai Hershko

Mordechai (Motti) Hershko, 41, of Haifa, was one of 15 people killed in a suicide bombing of an Egged bus on Moriah Boulevard in the Carmel section of Haifa.

The bus was traveling on the city's main Moriah Boulevard near the Carmel Center, on the way to Haifa University, when the blast turned the bus into a charred wreck and scattered bodies along the road. The suicide bomber, who had boarded the bus, had the bomb strapped to his body, laden with metal shrapnel in order to maximize the number of injuries. A total of 15 people were killed and 55 injured.

Motti Hershko had taken his son, Tom, along with him to a job interview to run a workshop promoting peace and preventing violence, and after being unemployed for a long time was given the job. Family members related that financial difficulties had recently forced his father to sell his car, which was why the two were riding the bus. They sat side by side and were killed together.

Hershko and his former wife, Ruth, had been divorced for a number of years, but he maintained close contact with his only son. Eli David, Ruth's brother, noted that the two were best friends. "In death, as in life, they were inseparable," he said.

Mordechai and Tom Hershko will be buried in Haifa. Ruth has asked that a space be saved in the cemetery next to them, so that one day she can be buried at their side.