A Palestinian terrorist rammed into a police vehicle at a Judea and Samaria checkpoint on Wednesday, leaving the son of the Israeli official in critical condition.
IDF reservist Neria Leiter, an American citizen and the son of Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter — who had already lost his eldest son in the war against Hamas — was left “fighting for his life” after a Palestinian rammed into the vehicle at the Maccabim checkpoint along Route 443 near Modi’in.
The attack left the younger Leiter, who has logged hundreds of days of reserve duty across multiple fronts since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacres, sedated and in critical condition at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Medical teams spent the evening administering life-saving interventions, including respiratory support, while Israel braced for updates on his condition.
The bloody incident hit the diplomat’s family with double force. Ambassador Leiter was forced to abort his trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, rushing back to Israel to sit by his critically injured son’s bedside. In late 2023, the ambassador’s eldest son, Maj. Moshe Yedidya, was killed while serving as a company commander in Gaza.
Authorities identified the terrorist behind the wheel as 29-year-old Muhammad Mahmoud Suleiman, a resident of the Palestinian town of Beit Ur al-Tahta. Suleiman smashed his vehicle directly into a Judea and Samaria District police patrol car stationed at the checkpoint as part of a joint security operation. IDF forces on the scene reacted with speed, killing Suleiman as he attempted to flee on foot.
Leaders in Israel were quick to express their fury over the cowardly strike. Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon called the ambush “heinous,” while Defense Minister Israel Katz praised the frontline troops who took down the assailant, declaring, “We will not allow terror to rear its head.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged the public to join in prayers for a miracle, emphasizing the family’s incredible resilience after having already sacrificed one son to the ongoing war against terror.
American political heavyweights and media personalities joined the chorus of support. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote, “Pray for @yechielleiter & entire family. They lost a son in Gaza killed by Hamas. Now a Palestinian terrorist attempts to murder IDF soldiers at a checkpoint. Standing w/ @yechielleiter.”
Conservative broadcaster Mark Levin echoed, “I’m told Ambassador Leiter’s son is badly injured. Prayers please. He’s a dear family friend. His eldest son was killed in Gaza nearly 3-years ago. May God bring his son through this. Palestinian terrorism is a real and horrible fact. And for Israelis and Jews it’s not a far off event. It’s relentless and ubiquitous. And the Palestinian Authority pays huge pensions to the families of terrorists who commit these heinous acts. May God now watch over the Leiter family. They’ve suffered greatly against this vicious enemy.”
The bloodshed at Maccabim was far from an isolated flare-up on a tense Wednesday. Just hours earlier in the Hebron Hills, two Palestinian men tried to run down the owner of a local farm. The quick-thinking farmer drew his personal firearm and shot one of the attackers in the leg, thwarting another potential deadly assault.
The fresh violence follows a grim backdrop in the region. Just days prior, Netanel Shakron, a 36-year-old father of six, was gunned down in cold blood near his home while taking his children to a natural spring. His children were saved only when a bystander shot the Palestinian assailant before he could turn his weapon on Shakron’s young child.
Palestinian terrorism is nothing if not consistent; in 2022, there was a ramming attack at the same checkpoint where a Palestinian terrorist seriously injured an Israeli soldier.
As Ambassador Leiter rushed home to his family, his message to the public remained rooted in faith: “Palestinian terrorism seeks to uproot the people of Israel from their land. They choose death — we choose life.”
