Morel (Moshiko) Derfler

Sept 9, 2001 - Morel Derfler, 45, of Mevasseret Zion was killed in a suicide bombing near the Nahariya train station in northern Israel.

Morel Derfler, a professional photographer, traveled to Nahariya on Sunday morning with his relative by marriage, architect Dr. Yigal Goldstein to work on a project in the nearby town of Shlomi. A terrorist carrying a bomb waited near the train station in Nahariya until the train arrived from Tel-Aviv. As the passengers were exiting the station, he detonated the bomb. Morel Derfler and Yigal Goldtstin were two of the three people killed in the explosion, in which some 90 were injured.

Derfler was a well-known photographer who had exhibited his work both in Israel and abroad. He was the official photographer of the Haifa Theater for 15 years, and worked with other theaters, including Habimah and Beit Lessin. Many of his photographs appeared in well-known theater placards. He also headed the photography department at the Wizo College in Haifa, where he himself had studied.

Oded Kotler, former director of the Haifa Theater, related that Morel Derfler was a wonderful and sensitive photographer who penetrated the very spirit of the play. Noam Semel, another former director of the Haifa Theater, related that Derfler believed in co-existence and was active in the establishment of the Haifa Theater's Arabic theater program in the 1980s.

Born and raised in Nahariya, Derfler had recently settled with his family in Mevasseret Zion, near Jerusalem.

Morel Derfler was buried in his home town of Nahariya. He leaves behind a wife, Jenny, a 16-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son.