Friends of Itamar

Shlomo Miller

Friday, 13/8/04- The security coordinator of Itamar was murdered Erev Shabbat while defending the community from an arab terrorist attack. Arutz 7 (IsraelNN.com) Shlomo Miller, the security officer of the Shomron community of Itamar, is the Israeli who was shot and killed in this morning’s shooting attack in Itamar. Miller will be laid to rest Friday afternoon at 16:00 in Jerusalem. Arutz 7: Terror Victim, Father of Seven, Buried in Pre-Sabbath Funeral Dozens of people took part in a somber funeral ceremony on Friday afternoon, shortly before the onset of the Sabbath, for Shlomo Miller, who had been gunned down by a Palestinian terrorist just a few hours before. Miller, father of seven children ranging in age from 4-21 and husband of Esther, was the security officer of his hometown of Itamar, near Shechem (Nablus) in the Shomron.

The attack began on Friday morning around 11:00 when a PA para-military police officer approached the back gate of Itamar and opened fire at two Israelis standing nearby. Unhurt, they immediately alarmed Itamar’s emergency task force. The first to arrive were Shlomo Miller and another man; the terrorist saw them first, and shot several bullets into Miller. The terrorist managed to grab Miller’s M-16 rifle. In the meantime, other emergency team members had arrived, and engaged the terrorist in a battle. Though the murderer shot at them with Miller’s M-16, he was soon dead. On his corpse was found a Kalachnikov rifle, cartridges and a knife.

Miller, who was rushed by helicopter to Beilinson Hospital in Petack Tikvah, died there of his wounds. He was buried in the ancient Mt. of Olives cemetery. The Commander of the Shomron Brigade, Col. Har’el Knafu, eulogized him, saying that he could not believe that just a day before, he had addressed hundreds of security personnel at a special ceremony and mentioned Shlomo by name, citing his exemplary work in ensuring the safety of the Jews living in the area. He also noted that he was not surprised that it was Shlomo who was hit by the terrorist’s gunfire, “as Shlomo was always the first one at the scene… I promise you, Shlomo, that we will purse those who sent the terrorist until we completely avenge your blood.”

Shlomo’s 17-year-old orphan son Eliyahu spoke in a choked voice, saying, “I cannot believe that at this age I must eulogize my father.” He then called upon the government, “Don’t give them guns! They killed my father!” Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz announced just a week before the attack his plan to allow PA para-military policemen to bear guns – despite warnings and past experience that the guns are liable to be used against Israeli citizens.

Shlomo Miller became Itamar’s security officer two years ago, succeeding Yosef Tuito, who was murdered when responding to the terror attack in which Rachel Shabo and three of her children were murdered in their home. Friday’s attack was at least the 6th fatal attack in and around Itamar since the onset of the current warfare.

Boaz Shabo, who lost his wife and three of his seven children in the above-mentioned attack, told Arutz-7’s Uzi Baruch, “Shlomo accompanied my family after the terrible catastrophe we went through; he was a good man who cared about every single person in our town.” Shabo said that the attack “brings me back to what happened then; it is simply hard to describe.”

The Yesha Council issued a statement: “This grave attack in Itamar proves once again that the IDF was right, and Ariel Sharon was wrong. The disengagement is blowing up in our faces. In addition, the fact that the terrorist murderer was a member of the PA’s security forces proves that we cannot give them more territory and more guns.”