Dan Elkayam, 27, French national killed in Bondi attack, laid to rest in Ashdod |
Dan Elkayam, a French national who was one of 15 people killed when two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah gathering last week in Sydney, Australia, was laid to rest Thursday in Ashdod.
A 27-year-old IT engineer and semi-professional soccer player, Elkayam had moved to Australia some six months before he was killed in the Bondi Beach terror attack.
A memorial event was also held in his adopted home earlier this week, after which his body was flown to Israel for burial.
His mother, Annie, said at the funeral: “My son, my love, my life. My heart is in a thousand pieces.” She added, “You are gone because you were Jewish, even though you were open to all communities.”
Ashdod Mayor Yehiel Lasry delivered a eulogy for Elkayam, in which he said that Dan, amid the attack, had jumped on 10-year-old Matilda, who was also killed, to save her from the terrorists’ bullets. Lasry’s words appeared to be the first time it was suggested that Elkayam had died trying to save the girl. The account could not immediately be corroborated.
The mayor also praised Elkayam’s “joy and love of life – a life that was cut off, cruelly, by antisemites, terrorists.”
“Dan loved everyone as they were, but he was deeply rooted in his own Jewish tradition,” he said, paying tribute to the slain soccer player’s “love and modesty,” and noting that he volunteered with at-risk youth.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi was also present at the funeral to represent the........