Ilya Reiger

Nov 22, 2003 - Ilya Reiger, 58, of Jerusalem was one of two Israeli security guards shot dead at a construction site along the route of the security fence near Abu Dis in East Jerusalem.

The two guards, Ilya Reiger and Samer Fathi Afan, were sitting in a private, unarmored vehicle belonging to one of the guards, guarding equipment at the construction site, when gunmen opened fire at close range. Both were killed. A third guard went into shock when the gunmen opened fire and failed to return fire. The gunmen stole the guards' weapons and escaped. The Jenin Martyrs' Brigades, affiliated with Fatah, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Ilya Reiger immigrated to Israel from Russia. Having lost his job, he found employment as a security guard in order to pay the mortgage on the family's apartment in the Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood. When news of Reiger's death reached the family, a small number of friends gathered with them at the apartment and expressed their shock and sorrow, but family members asked not to be interviewed.

Ilya Reiger was buried in Jerusalem. He is survived by his son Leonid and other family members.