Following the critical injury of Neriah Leiter in Wednesday’s vehicular terror ramming on Route 443, deeply moving words he previously penned about his resolve to continue serving in the reserves—despite the crushing tragedy that struck his family—have taken on profound new resonance. Back then, Neriah described the raw difficulty of putting the uniform back on after his elder brother, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidyah Leiter, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip, and the inescapable conviction that despite the personal toll, he could not stay home. At the same time, his brothers-in-arms remained on the battlefield.
2+“As a bereaved brother, after my brother Moshe, may God avenge his blood, was killed in the war, the decision to head back out to reserve duty was not simple at all. Something in the heart genuinely tore,” Neriah wrote. “Yet I could not stand aside while my friends served round after round. I didn’t truly have the internal option to remain at home.”
He went on to articulate the deep sense of mission that sustained him: “And the truth? Despite all the hardship, I feel an enormous privilege. A privilege to be part of these historic moments. A privilege to stand alongside people who give of themselves without overcalculating. A privilege to be part of a cohort of individuals who, in everyday life, are so different from one another—yet when duty calls, everyone shows up.”
2+Neriah concluded his post with words that echo with poignant power today: “Ultimately, through all the difficulty, exhaustion, and cost—it is an immense privilege to belong to the generation living through this era rather than merely reading about it later. A privilege to be part of a legendary company of good people. A privilege to serve in this company and on this team. A privilege to defend our home. Now, having completed this rotation, I will return as a better citizen. A better husband and father. Until the next call. Because we have no other country.”
Following the attack, his father, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, issued an emotional appeal urging the public to pray for his son’s recovery. “I thank the IDF and the dedicated medical team at Shaare Zedek who are currently battling for the life of Neriah Dov ben Chana, and I thank the people of Israel for their prayers. I believe in the power of prayer and believe that when Am Yisrael stands united, miracles happen. Neriah needs a miracle,” he wrote.
2+Ambassador Leiter underscored that Neriah insisted on continuing his active reserve service even after the devastating loss of his eldest brother Moshe Yedidyah, completing hundreds of days of reserve duty across multiple combat sectors since October 7. The ambassador concluded: “Palestinian terrorism is aimed at uprooting the Jewish people from their homeland. They choose death—we choose life.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Neriah Dov Leiter, a 30-year-old reservist and resident of Samaria, was critically injured in the vehicular terror ramming at the Bell Checkpoint near Beit Horon along Route 443. Struck violently by the terrorist’s vehicle, he was rushed to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, unconscious, sedated, and intubated. Responding security forces eliminated the assailant at the scene. In the hours following the attack, the family issued an urgent call for prayers on behalf of Neriah Dov ben Chana.