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Israeli Troops Reinforced after Murder of Woman in Suspected Terror Attack

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Security forces are still searching for the killer of Esther Horgen, who was murdered in an apparent Palestinian terror attack on Sunday.

Horgen, 52, a mother of six, was buried on Tuesday, after her body was found a day earlier with signs of violence, in a forest near her home in the northern West Bank (biblical Samaria) settlement of Tal Menashe. Horgen went out for a walk on Sunday and never returned.

Her husband, Benjamin, said his wife was full of life.

“She lived every moment of her life. She had so much to give,” Benjamin Horgen told the Kan public broadcaster in an interview on Tuesday. “I trust the defense establishment to do their job, they have updated [us] that things are progressing.”

At the funeral, Esther’s daughter Odelia mourned her mother’s death and lamented that she wouldn’t be at her wedding, according to the Times of Israel.

“My mother is my best friend. She came to visit me at the end of the world, in Australia. Where are you now, mother?” asked Odelia. “I am sorry that you will not dance at my wedding.”

Without a direct connection to the murder, the Israel Defense Forces nevertheless released a statement on Tuesday saying that according to its assessment of the situation, it had decided to “reinforce the Judea and Samaria Division in order to enhance the defense of communities and routes in the region.” 

“The security forces will apprehend the murderer as quickly as possible and we will settle accounts with him,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged.

“A full life of wonderful works, of home and family, of creativity and care has been cut short by a beast in human guise. I have full faith that our security forces will get to the despicable murders and that justice will be done. I embrace Esther's family, her children and their father. We are with you in this time of such deep grief,” Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin said.

On Monday, Horgen’s husband attributed the success of their family and community to his wife and called on the government to make “an appropriate Zionist response to the murder and to add [to settlement] construction and light for our children.”

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About The Author

Julie Stahl
Julie
Stahl

Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel fulltime for more than 20 years. Julie’s life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN – first as a graduate student in Journalism; then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91; and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009. As a correspondent for CBN News, Julie has covered Israel’s wars with Gaza, rocket attacks on Israeli communities, stories on the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and