A happy family shattered by a bloodthirsty killer

The Salomon family had left their front door of their home in the Samaria community of Halamish unlocked for guests who were on their way for a special Shabbat meal to celebrate the birth of another grandchild. But it was a bloodthirsty murderer who crossed the threshold, raised his knife and brought a disaster down upon the family.

Yossi Solomon, 70, his wife, Tova, 68, and their daughter Chaya, 46, lived in the house in Halamish. Yossi and Chaya were killed on the spot, as was Elad Salomon, 36, who had come with his wife and their five children to spend the weekend. Tova was seriously injured and is still hospitalized.

Yossi and Tova Salomon, parents of five children, had lived in Halamish for years. They were among the second wave of residents to build homes in the settlement. Yossi served in a number of administrative roles in the community, among them deputy head of security. Neighbors describe him as a pleasant, smiling man who was involved in everything that happened in the community. In recent years, Yossi had been the driver for a group of special needs children who were attached to him and enjoyed riding with him.

Yossi and Tova's eldest daughter, Chaya, lived with them. She was a teacher in Lod, known for her devotion to her pupils.

"They were like twins, so close," Miri Maoz, whose childhood home was across the street from the Salomons, said of Chaya and her mother. Maoz's brother, a soldier in the IDF's Oketz Unit, shot and wounded the terrorist.

"My parents have lived here for 30 years. It's a very quiet street, just three families. There are strong friendship ties here," Maoz said.

Yossi was known for his minyan -- prayer quorum -- which was a "brand" in the community, and which was canceled this week for the first time in decades.

Elad Salomon, who was killed along with his father and older sister, worked in computers. He and his wife, Michal, were the parents of five children, including 14-month-old twins. At the time of the attack, Michal hid the children upstairs. On Saturday evening, Michal took her children to her sister's home in the settlement of Oranit.

"I just acted without thinking," Michal said, "It's the strength I got from my mom, Ziva, who died of cancer two years ago. She was a very strong, impressive character. In moments of despair, how she raised me and her personal example are what helped me through the tough times."

"Michal handled herself in an exemplary manner," her father, Dan Landau, said Saturday.

"A commando fighter wouldn't have done what she did. She was on the same floor were the slaughter took place, and she grabbed her three older children quickly. She held on to the 10-year-old, the 9-year-old and the 5-year-old and took them upstairs, where the 14-month-old twins were sleeping. Upstairs, she took her children into [the room] and shut the door, turned off the light, and told them to stay quiet. She slipped into the room next door, quietly, took out a phone and called the police. She was on the phone with them for 20 minutes straight and reported the incident.

"Then, she went downstairs quietly and went up to her mother [mother-in-law], who was wounded downstairs, to make sure there were no more terrorists. When she [Tova] said there weren't, Michal went to look for the sister, who wasn't there, and only later we found out she had been murdered. And then after some more time had gone by, when the emergency services arrived and she felt sure the danger had past, she covered the children's heads with their clothes so they wouldn't see the horrible scene downstairs. I'm amazed at my daughter's courage and heroism. I'm so proud of her for it," Landau said.

Landau described his late son-in-law as "a happy, smiling guy, whom all his relatives and friends loved and who was full of joy. This horrible murder has shattered an entire family, a family that was happy. They were raising their children well. Really a model family. May God avenge him.

"Now we're with them here, close to Michal and the children. We're worried about the oldest, who has not only experienced an enormous trauma and loss, he's also the one who heard the noise and how his father was murdered. He's only 10 and a half. He certainly understood what was happening. And there's also my daughter, a woman who saw the bodies of the murder victims. This is a huge tragedy that will take some time to digest," Landau said.

Landau added that his family has already had members murdered simply for being Jews.

"Members of my mother's family were killed in the [1929] Hebron riots, where there was the same incitement [as there is today] that Jews were trying to attack Al-Aqsa. Nakba or no Nakba, occupation or no occupation, this slogan has been used for a hundred years and is what gives legitimacy to killing Jews," he said.

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