Rabbi ‘extremely proud’ of wife and daughters killed in West Bank terror attack
A father and husband of three British-Israelis murdered in the West Bank has said he is “extremely proud of all of them”.
Lucy Dee, 48, died on Monday from injures suffered during the shooting, after her daughters, Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, during the attack in the West Bank on Friday, April 7.
The family of seven had been travelling in separate cars en route to a Passover holiday.
Paying tribute, Rabbi Leo Dee said his wife was an “exceptional human being” and she had saved five lives and helped two other people to see by donating her organs, he told Sky News that.
He said: “I am extremely proud of all of them. We are very proud (Lucy) saved five lives. Two corneas, as well, so another two operations will take place.
“One of them was an Arab. I think that is significant to us because Lucy was very much into peaceful relations with our neighbours and I think she would have been very proud that she saved the life of an Arab even in the situation.”
Mr Dee said his sister had called explaining there had been a terror attack and wanted to check the family were OK.
He was unable to get hold of his wife or daughters and his son then spotted the car on an Israeli terror alert website.
The family saw photos of their car and suitcases “covered in blood” and rushed to the scene.
Mr Dee said his daughters were killed by 20 bullets from a Kalashnikov rifle and his wife was shot twice in the suspected Palestinian shooting on Friday.
Hundreds of mourners attended Lucy’s funeral held at the Kfar Etzion settlement south of Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Describing his wife, the rabbi said: “She was someone who gave. That was really her defining feature and because she gave, she encouraged other people to give. The kids picked up from that and they’ve learnt to give.”
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He said Maia had been volunteering in a school in the south of Israel, working as a counsellor to children in the ninth grade.
The rabbi said Rina supported fellow pupils at her boarding school if they were struggling.
Mr Dee was formerly the senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London.
Speaking about the attackers, Mr Dee said: “I don’t hold any hate towards them. The Israeli security forces will do what they usually do which is track them down and bring them to justice which I think is right because it prevents the next attack that they might do.
“I pray for safety of the Israeli soldiers who go in and risk their lives in order to protect the Jewish people and the Arab citizens because a lot of these attacks don’t discriminate.”
The rabbi revealed he had nightmares the night after the attack but focusing on his son and two surviving daughters had helped him to feel calm.