Memorial plaque at the corner of Gaza and Arlozorov streets in Jerusalem
Avraham Balhasan
Avraham Balhasan immigrated to Israel from France six years ago and volunteered for army service. Four years ago he married, Esther, who had also immigrated from France. Avraham was studying computers at the Lev Institute in Jerusalem while continuing his yeshiva studies. The couple lived in a rented apartment in the capital’s Givat Mordechai neighborhood. They had no children. Four months ago, Balhasan’s mother, Sylvia Dahan, also immigrated from France.
Avraham usually left home earlier in the morning, but on the day of the explosion was aboard bus no. 19 and was killed in the blast. Neighbors described him as meticulous and diligent. He had a deep sense of belonging in Israel and would pray every morning at the Sephardic synagogue in the neighborhood.
Avraham (Albert) Balhasan was buried in the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem. He is survived by his wife, Esther, and mother, Sylvia.
Rose Boneh
Rose, the third of five children of Linda and Binyamin Boneh, was born in Jeruslem and lived there all her life. She took Bus 19 every day to work at the Clalit health organization’s blood laboratory. She Bona left home and boarded the bus a few minutes after 8:30 A.M. Her last conversation was with her younger sister, Joya, who called her on her cellphone before she caught the bus.
Rose’s good friend Eva described her as an optimistic woman, with a huge heart. She had been living for several years with Yossi Biton, whose son, Eliran, 14, collapsed when he heard the news of her death. “She was more than a mother to him,” said Yossi. “Meeting Rose was for me like winning the lottery for a limited time.”
Rose Boneh was buried at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem. She is survived by her mate, Yossi Biton, her mother, Linda, and four siblings.
Hava Hannah (Anya) Bunder
Anya Bunder immigrated to Israel 12 years ago from Moscow. She was to celebrate her 38th birthday, which took place two days ago, with family and friends on Friday. Instead, they attended her funeral. Anya took the bus every day from her home in Rehavia to the Public Works Department, where she worked for the past six and a half years in the computer department. Her best friend, Nana Perpelochikov, arrived at the office as usual at 9 A.M. When she heard about the explosion, she called Bunder but could not get through. Knowing Bonder’s usual punctuality, she began searching for her at the hospitals. “She loved life and people, and was proud to be a Jew,” said Perpelochikov. Hava Hannah (Anya) Bonder was buried in the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem. She is survived by her two children, Shimon, 15, and Nehama, 14, and by her parents and a sister.
Anat Darom
Anat Darom grew up in Tel-Aviv and Netanya. After completing her army service, she began her studies in statistics and sociology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. After completing her B.A., she planned to engaged in social research. She was on her way to the Mount Scopus campus when she was killed.
Anat Darom was buried in Moshav Avihayil. She is survived by her parents, Ephraim and Nurit, and her sister, Nili.
Viorel Octavian Florescu
Octavian Florescu immigrated to Israel three years ago from Romania with his wife, Sandra, and their daughter, now aged 5. He worked in the meat department of the Co-Op supermarket in Mevasseret Zion. On Thursday, as always, Florescu took their daughter to kindergarten. Then he boarded the number 19 bus en route to the family’s bank on Agron Street. “Octavian was a super person, a good man and a good husband,” said his wife.
Viorel Octavian Florescu is survived by his wife and daughter.
Natalia Gamril
Natalia Gamril immigrated to Israel from St. Petersburg in 1993 with her husband Boris and their daughter Svetlana, who now works as a teacher. The mother and daughter lived together in Kiryat Yovel. Natalia was on her way to her job taking care of an elderly woman when she was killed. Svetlana spoke of her mother: “She was a wonderful mother. She loved to take walks and to read. She was a very sociable person.”
Natalia Gamril was buried on Kibbutz Revadim. She is survived by her husband Boris, her daughter Svetlana, and twin sister, who lives in Russia.
Yechezkel Isser Goldberg
Yechezkel Goldberg, who immigrated to Israel from Toronto, Canada eight years ago, was taking the number 19 bus to his job as a social worker in downtown Jerusalem when he was killed. He worked primarily with troubled youth, both in Jerusalem and in his hometown of Betar Illit.
Goldberg also wrote for many years for the Jewish Press, an English-language Orthodox weekly, primarily on educational matters and on the experiences of a religious, English-speaking immigrant in Israel.
Yechezkel Isser Goldberg was buried in Jerusalem’s Har Hamenuhot cemetery. He is survived by his wife Shifra and their seven children, aged one to 16.
Baruch (Roman) Hondiashvili
Baruch Hondiashvili immigrated from Georgia at the age of 6 and was a chef in Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue. Each morning he took his children to the nursery school near his Kiryat Yovel apartment, on his way to the nearby bus station. He boarded the bus and was killed in the blast.
As a chef, Baruch twice represented Israel in international competitions and placed first in the world food decoration competition. He also practiced judo, and as a teenager was Israeli youth champion. Baruch’s wife, Etti, said, “There never was, and never will be a husband, father and son like Baruch.”
Baruch (Roman) Hondiashvili was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. He is survived by his wife Etti, 3-year-old twins, and a 6-month baby.
Dana Itach
Dana Itach rode either bus 19 or 31 from her apartment in the Katamonim quarter to work at the Israel Government Coins and Medals Corporation near Gaza Road every morning. On Thursday, Bus 19 came first. Itach was one station away from her destination when the bomb went off.
Dana had dreamed of raising a family with her husband, Alon, whom she married about a year ago, after a six-year friendship. Her relatives described her as gentle, patient and calm.
Dana Itach was buried in the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem. She is survived by her husband, Alon, and her parents.
Mehbere Kifile
A reexamination of body parts brought to the Abu Kabir forensic institute on Saturday revealed that another woman was killed in Thursday’s suicide attack in Jerusalem, bringing the death toll to 11. After Mehbere’s husband reported her missing, she was identified as 35-year-old Mehbere Kifile, an illegal foreign worker from Ethiopia. Mehbere had originally come to Israel eight years ago as a tourist and decided to stay and work. She was identified using DNA samples taken from her apartment in Jerusalem.
Eli Zfira
Eli Zfira used to take the bus every morning from his home in the Gonen neighborhood in Jerusalem, to the experimental school in central Jerusalem, where he worked as a maintenance man. On Thursday morning Eli and his wife Iris brought their 20-month-old son Avior to kindergarten. Iris was trying to conceive again, and Eli accompanied her to a fertility test. She dropped him off at 8:45 A.M. at the capital’s Herzog Boulevard, to take the No. 19 bus. Iris said, “We wanted to bring Avior a sister, but we didn’t succeed.”
Eli, 48, had worked for many years at the experimental school, where he was described as a “man devoted to children, who knew all of them personally and had a strong bond with them.” The principal of the elementary school, Yoav Shor, said that the last time he spoke to Eli was when he called Shor while he was on military reserve duty, to report an electrical fault at the school. “I told him I couldn’t do much from where I was serving, but he insisted that it was important for him that the children did not suffer due to problems with the heating system.”
Eli Zfira was buried in Jerusalem. He is survived by his wife, Iris, son Avior, and two daughters.