St.-Sgt. Shimon Edri

Mar 20, 2002 - St.-Sgt. Shimon Edri, 20, of Pardes Hanna, was one of seven people killed in a suicide bombing of an Egged bus No. 823 traveling from Tel Aviv to Nazareth at the Musmus junction on Highway 65 (Wadi Ara) near Afula.

The attack occurred around 7 AM., shortly after the No. 823 Egged bus had stopped to take on passengers at the Umm el-Fahm junction. A few moments later, the terrorist detonated the explosives strapped to his body, blowing himself up and killing or wounding all of those with him on the bus, which was completely gutted. St.-Sgt. Shimon Edri was one of four soldiers and three civilians killed in the blast.

St.-Sgt. Shimon Edri, who served in the IDF Home Front Command, was head of discipline at a base in Na'ura. He moved with his family from Be'er Sheva to Pardes Hannah in 1991, where he attended the ORT high school. He loved horses, and kept one of his own for a while in the yard of the family home. "He was a loving and quiet boy," says his father. "He loved his work in the army. He would always get up first, dress immaculately, polish his shoes, and tell me he had to serve as an example."

St.-Sgt. Shimon Edri was buried in the military section of the Pardes Hanna cemetery. He is survived by his parents, Yitzhak and Aliza, and a younger brother and sister, Liran and Dana.