Ambassador Yehiel Leiter's son critically hurt in Route 443 ramming attack

A reservist soldier seriously wounded in a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint on Route 443 in the West Bank on Wednesday afternoon was identified as Neria Leiter, the son of Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yehiel Leiter. Emanuel Fabian, the military correspondent of The Times of Israel, reported the identification, as did Israeli broadcasters and the spokesperson's office of the Binyamin Regional Council.

Israel Police said the assailant drove a vehicle at a patrol car of the force's Judea and Samaria District, in which a policewoman and a soldier were present. The Jerusalem Post reported that an officer and a soldier were at the scene when the patrol vehicle was struck. Joe Truzman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, citing Israel's Channel 12, wrote that Israeli forces at the scene shot and killed the attacker. Defense Minister Israel Katz also said in a statement that the fighters present had killed the assailant.

Where the attack took place, and where accounts differ

Route 443 is a highway linking the Tel Aviv coastal plain area to Jerusalem that passes through the West Bank, with checkpoints along its route. The reports do not fully agree on the exact location of the attack. Ynet placed it at the Bell checkpoint, while the Jerusalem Post and Channel 12's account referred to the Maccabim checkpoint. Israel Hayom described the location as Route 443 near Beit Horon in the Binyamin region. All the reports agree the attack took place at a checkpoint along that road.

The Binyamin Regional Council is the local authority for Israeli communities in the area north of Jerusalem. Its spokesperson's office said the wounded man is the son of Hani and Yehiel of the community of Eli, and asked the public to pray for his recovery, giving the traditional Hebrew form used for prayer, in which a person is named together with his mother: Neria Dov ben Hana.

The family

Yehiel Leiter has served as Israel's ambassador in Washington. Another of his sons, Moshe Leiter, was killed fighting Hamas in northern Gaza. Fabian reported that Moshe fell in November 2023, in the early stage of the war that followed the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7.

In a statement posted on his account on X, the ambassador thanked the Israel Defense Forces and the medical team at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he said staff were fighting for his son's life. "Neria needs a miracle," he wrote, adding that he believes in the power of prayer and that miracles occur when the people of Israel unite. He said his son had continued to serve in the reserves after the loss of his older brother, carrying out hundreds of days of reserve duty on various fronts since October 7. Ynet reported that the ambassador was travelling to Israel and would not accompany Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his visit to the United Nations.

Official reactions

Defense Minister Israel Katz said he was praying for the swift recovery of the reservist, addressed the ambassador directly and said he was strengthening him and his family. He praised the soldiers who killed the attacker and told troops and security forces that terrorism would not be allowed to raise its head.

President Isaac Herzog referred to the wounded man during remarks at the annual memorial ceremony for fallen soldiers of the Armored Corps, noting that he is the brother of Major Moshe Leiter, and sending wishes for a full recovery along with support for his wife and his parents.

Israel's police commissioner, Danny Levy, said in a statement that the wounded man had been serving in the reserves inside a police vehicle alongside officers in the Judea and Samaria sector, as part of joint work between the Israel Police and the military to strengthen security in the area. The United States ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, wrote on X that he was praying for the entire Leiter family, noting that they had lost a son in Gaza, and said his heart was with Yehiel Leiter. The Israeli commentator Amit Segal shared a public call to gather for prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem at 23:00 that evening.

What the reports do not say

The material does not identify the attacker or state his affiliation, and does not describe how he approached the checkpoint. It does not give the condition of the policewoman or of any other person at the scene beyond the reservist, and it does not give his age or unit. The accounts differ on the checkpoint's name, and none of the reports resolves that difference. There is no updated medical statement in the material beyond the family's description of his condition as critical.