Public service united Israeli father and daughter Roni and Mor Shakuri, as both chose to become police officers. But Mor was killed by Hamas on October 7, and on Sunday her father was shot dead by terrorist gunfire.
Roni, 61, had only just begun smiling again nearly 11 months after the murder of his daughter, Mor, 29. He had just a few days ago returned from a sailing trip abroad with his friends and wife, Ayala. While there, Roni and Ayala allowed themselves for the first time in nearly a year to “smile, breathe air… [they] suddenly started believing in happiness of life again,” Roni’s brother-in-law Oren told Israeli press.
On Sunday morning in a checkpoint along Route 35 near Hebron, Roni was shot in a drive-by shooting, later succumbing to his wounds in hospital. He and two other police officers – Command Sergeant Major Hadas Berentz, 53, and Chief Inspector Arik Ben Eliyahu, 37 – were shot at from a passing vehicle which subsequently fled the scene. Large forces from both Israel police and the IDF have been deployed to search the area and locate the terrorists responsible.
Roni Shakuri
Roni’s daughter, Mor Shakuri, like her father a first sergeant, was killed by a Hamas sniper on the morning of October 7 during a shootout on the roof of Sderot police station. Firing down from the position until she ran out of ammunition, Mor reportedly spent five hours defending the building from terrorists who were attempting to besiege it.
During what became known as the Battle of Sderot, located close to Gaza’s northern border, Hamas massacred 20 police officers and at least 50 civilians, including a minibus carrying 15 senior citizens.
In the midst of the siege, the 29-year-old managed to use her shirt as a tourniquet to treat a seriously wounded man and found a moment to call her mother to say goodbye. “Mum, if I don’t survive,” she said, “know that I love you, I love my father, and take care of Sapir (her sister) for me,”
Sapir described her sister as someone “full of life” who “loved music, loved dancing, doing good deeds and travelling.” Mor was in the process of planning her wedding to fellow police officer David Fokel, which was to take place in June this year, and had just bought a house, when she was killed.
After meeting Mor’s mother Ayala during a solidarity trip to Israel, Claudia Salem arranged in April for an evening dance party for around 80 women at Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue – to both prove true the slogan that we “will dance again” and to raise funds to dedicate a Torah scroll in memory of Mor.
Just a few hours after the murder of her husband on Sunday, Ayala sent a text to Claudia, conveying her disbelief. “You won’t believe this,” she wrote, “the most terrible thing happened today, Roni was murdered”. She added, “I don’t understand how something like this can happen. I’m broken-hearted.”
Dancing to raise funds for a Torah scroll in memory of Mor Shakuri, who was murdered on October 7 (Photo: Nathalie Metta)
Claudia was inundated with messages on Sunday from many of those 80 women after they read the news of Roni’s murder. She said: “They were all devastated but said that we now need to raise money to dedicate a Sefer Torah to him too. In time, I’ll go back to Ayala and tell her that.”
According to Claudia, Roni had found it “very difficult” to return to work, having lost a daughter who chose to follow in his career footsteps.
The family of the slain policeman and policewoman, father and daughter, who are now grappling with a double tragedy, will be supported by the Israel police for the rest of their lives as is official policy.
