UPDATE Oct. 24: Consul general David Siegel released a statement Thursday on the recent terrorist attack in Jerusalem:
“We are heartbroken at the savage murder of three-month-old Chaya Zissel Braun, daughter of Los Angeles native Shmueli Braun and New York native Chana Braun. Chaya was killed in a brutal terrorist attack in Jerusalem. We condemn this horrific act and the incitement that led to it, which is the latest of many attacks perpetrated against Israelis in Jerusalem in recent months,” Siegel said.
A native of Hancock park and now a resident of Jerusalem, Shmueli Braun, the father of the three-month old baby girl murdered on Wednesday, Oct. 22, in a Jerusalem terror attack, is now recovering from head trauma and broken ribs, according to Hillygram, an email issued daily connecting members of the Los Angeles Orthodox community.
Braun’s parents, Moshe and Esther Braun, wrote to the Jewish Journal in an email that they are “en route to Israel”, where the shiva, or seven-day mourning period has just started for their infant granddaughter, Chaya Zissel Braun. Hundreds attended the funeral Wednesday at Har Hamenuchot in Jerusalem.
The baby was thrown about 30 feet from her stroller when Abdel Rahman al-Shaludi, an Arab resident of East Jerusalem, intentionally plowed his car into people standing on the platform at the Ammunition Hill light rail station, injuring seven in addition to Shmueli and his baby daughter.
Shaludi, the nephew of a deceased Hamas bomb-maker, had previously posted content on Facebook that indicated his support for terrorism and violence against Israelis. He was shot by security guards as he tried to escape and later died of his wounds at the hospital.
Shmueli, his wife Chana and their daughter were reportedly coming from the Western Wall when Shaludi attacked—it was their daughter’s first visit to Judaism’s holiest site. Shimshon Halperin, the baby’s grandfather, told reporters outside Hadassah University Medical Center that the Brauns had tried unsuccessfully for years to have a baby. Chaya was their first and only child.
The baby’s grandparents, Moshe and Esther, attend Congregation Etz Chaim, Baruch Cohen said, adding that the family is “very religious, quiet, sweet [and] very private.”
