Ruth Almog

Oct 4, 2003 - Ruth Almog, 70, of Haifa was one of 19 people killed in a suicide bombing carried out by a female terrorist from Jenin in the Maxim restaurant in Haifa. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast devastated the restaurant, of joint Jewish-Arab ownership, on Hahagana Boulevard near the southern entrance of the coastal city. It was packed mostly with regular Saturday customers. The bomber, Hanadi Jaradat, a 29-year-old lawyer from Jenin, managed to get past Maxim's security guard before blowing herself up in the middle of the restaurant. The security guard, an Israeli Arab, was killed in the attack, along with three other Israeli Arab employees of the restaurant. The victims included five members of the Almog family from Haifa and five members of the Zer-Aviv family from Kibbutz Yagur. Four children were killed and 60 people were wounded in the bombing.

Ruth Almog and her husband Ze'ev had gone to the beach with their family and then went to Maxim for lunch. They were killed along with their son, Moshe, and grandsons, Tomer and Assaf. Daughter Galit, daughter-in-law Orly, and two other grandchildren were wounded in the blast.

Ze'ev and Ruth Almog met each other during their military service. They married in 1954 and had three children. Ruth had worked as an education adviser until retiring a few years ago. They were devoted to their grandchildren, and were often seen holding one of them by the hand or going to pick them up from the pool or other after-school activity.

Ruth Almog was buried in Haifa alongside the other four members of her family killed in the explosion. She is survived by her daughters, Galit and Iris, as well as her grandchildren Omri, 14, Oren, 9, Adi, 6, Niv and Elad.