Ambassador's Son Transferred to Rehabilitation After Route 443 Attack

Neria Leiter, the son of Israeli Ambassador to the USA Yechiel Leiter, has been discharged from Shaare Zedek Medical Center and transferred to a neurological and head trauma rehabilitation facility. Leiter was critically injured in a vehicular ramming attack at the Bell checkpoint on Route 443 approximately two months ago.

He remains unconscious but is breathing independently. Speaking to the press previously, Ambassador Leiter noted that his son sustained severe head trauma after striking a concrete block during the attack, requiring a lengthy open-brain surgery. The ambassador also shared that following the incident, his pregnant daughter went into labor at the hospital and gave birth to a daughter.

Neria Leiter had continued active reserve duty following the death of his brother, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, who was killed in combat in Gaza. Neria had accumulated hundreds of reserve duty days since October 7. Upon arrival at the trauma unit, he was in immediate mortal danger, undergoing multiple neurosurgical and orthopedic procedures while managed by the intensive care team led by Prof. Philip Levin.

The ramming attack occurred when a terrorist, identified as 29-year-old Mahmoud Muhammad Mahmoud Suleiman from Beit Ur al-Tahta near Ramallah, accelerated his vehicle toward a police vehicle at the checkpoint, striking Neria. Reserve soldiers from the Jonathan Brigade deployed at the scene opened fire and neutralized the attacker just a day before their scheduled rotation concluded.