The son of Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, was fighting for his life on Wednesday night after being seriously wounded in a Palestinian car-ramming attack in the West Bank.
Neria Leiter, 38, an IDF reservist, suffered a severe head injury when a Palestinian driver rammed security personnel at the Maccabim checkpoint on Route 443.
The attacker, identified by Israeli authorities as 29-year-old Mahmoud Mohammad Suleiman, from Beit Ur al-Tahta, was shot dead at the scene.
Leiter underwent hours of emergency brain surgery at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. Doctors said his condition had stabilised but remained very serious and life-threatening.
The attack is the second tragedy to strike Ambassador Leiter’s family since October 7. His elder son, Major (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, a father of six, was killed at the age of 39 while fighting in northern Gaza in November 2023.
Ambassador Leiter said Neria had continued serving despite his brother’s death, completing hundreds of days of reserve duty on multiple fronts.
“I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that when the people of Israel unite, miracles happen,” he wrote. “Neria needs a miracle.”
President Isaac Herzog said: “We send our wishes for a complete recovery to Neria, and strength to his wife and to his parents, Hannah and Yechiel Leiter.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the family at Shaare Zedek before departing for the UN General Assembly and urged Israelis to pray for “Neria Dov ben Chana”.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir said the military would “continue to act with determination to dismantle terrorist organisations”.
Following the attack, the IDF announced additional reinforcements in the West Bank, including deployment of the 98th Division headquarters.
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