Son of Israel's US ambassador critical after Route 443 ramming

Update, 24 September, 15:08 Israel time

The wounded man is Neria Leiter, son of Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and he was hurt in a car-ramming at the "Bell" checkpoint on Route 443 in the West Bank, The Times of Israel reported, naming the assailant as Mahmoud Mohammad Sliman, 29, from the village of Beit Ur al-Tahta, who was shot dead by troops. The same report said Neria Leiter is a soldier and that his father flew back to Israel and spoke to reporters outside Shaare Zedek Medical Center, saying he was full of hope for his son's recovery and describing Palestinian violence in the territory as aimed at driving Jews from the land.

Ynetnews reported that Leiter underwent complex brain surgery and remains in a life-threatening condition, and quoted his mother saying the family is still in shock. In its Hebrew report, Ynet cited a doctor at the hospital describing his condition as stable while saying the danger to his life has not passed. The two descriptions of his state differ in emphasis, and The Jerusalem Post's account described him as fighting for his life.

Ynet also reported that the ambassador lost another son, Moshe, in Gaza earlier in the war. The commentator Amit Segal wrote that Leiter's daughter gave birth to a girl in the same hospital, some 40 metres from where her brother is in intensive care.

The story as first reported

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening and met the family of Neria Leiter, who was very seriously injured in an attack earlier the same day. According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office, the visit took place shortly before Netanyahu departed for the United Nations General Assembly.

The same statement said Netanyahu asked the public to pray for Leiter's recovery, giving his name in the traditional Hebrew form used for such prayers, Neria Dov son of Chana. The Israeli news outlet News.co.il published the Prime Minister's Office text in Hebrew, reporting that the prime minister had arrived at the hospital a short time before the announcement.

What Shaare Zedek Medical Center is

Shaare Zedek is one of the main hospitals in Jerusalem and one of the principal trauma receiving centres in the city. Victims of attacks and other serious incidents in and around Jerusalem are routinely brought there, and it is a common stop for Israeli political leaders visiting the wounded. The statement did not say which department Leiter is being treated in, and it did not describe his injuries beyond the phrase very seriously injured.

Why the prayer name matters

The wording of the prime minister's appeal follows a Jewish religious convention. In prayers for the sick, a person is identified by their given name followed by their mother's name, rather than the father's name used in most other Jewish liturgical contexts. So Neria Dov son of Chana identifies the injured man by his two given names and his mother's name. Requests of this kind are circulated widely in Israel and in diaspora communities after attacks, and synagogues often add the name to communal prayers. The publication of such a name by a prime minister's office is a signal that the family has agreed to the public appeal, though the statement itself does not address that.

The UN General Assembly context

The visit was timed immediately before Netanyahu's departure for the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly, the body's yearly session in New York at which heads of state and government deliver addresses. Israeli prime ministers have traditionally used the platform to set out the government's position to an international audience. The reports available here state only that the hospital visit came before takeoff. They do not give a date or time for a speech, do not describe what Netanyahu intends to say, and do not list anyone travelling with him.

What the reports say about the attack

All three reports describe the incident in the same brief terms: an attack that happened the same day, in which Leiter was very seriously injured. The Prime Minister's Office statement in English uses the phrase terrorist attack. None of the material identifies where the attack took place, who carried it out, what weapon or method was used, or whether anyone else was hurt or killed. No security force account of the incident appears in the material.

The Israeli broadcaster N12 circulated the same Prime Minister's Office wording through its news channel, attributed to correspondent Dafna Liel and marked as an edited version. The three reports are consistent with one another on every detail, which is expected given that all of them reproduce a single official announcement. That is an important qualification for readers: this is one source of information, relayed by several outlets, rather than three independent accounts of the same event.

How these visits usually work

Hospital visits by Israeli prime ministers after attacks are a fixed part of the political calendar, and they are normally announced by the Prime Minister's Office with a short written statement and sometimes photographs. The statements typically do not include medical detail, which remains with the hospital and the family. In this case no hospital statement on Leiter's condition appears in the material, and the description of his condition comes from the political office rather than from treating physicians.

What is not known

The reports do not say where or when during the day the attack occurred, or in what circumstances. They do not say who attacked Leiter, or whether a suspect was detained or killed. They do not give Leiter's age, his home town, or any biographical detail. They give no update on his condition after the visit, and no indication of how long Netanyahu stayed at the hospital or which family members he met. There is no separate confirmation from Shaare Zedek in the material, and no independent account of the visit beyond the official text.