Stabbing victim Aharon Banita, 21, who was killed on Saturday night in Jerusalem’s Old City was an IDF soldier, the army said on Sunday.
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The ultra-Orthodox French-born recruit will be buried on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, the IDF said.
However, his family reportedly asked that he not be given an army burial, in keeping with ultra-Orthodox customs, and be laid to rest on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives instead. Most ultra-Orthodox do not serve in the Israeli army.
Banita, a resident of Beitar Illit in the West Bank, was posthumously promoted to corporal.
He is survived by his wife, who was badly injured in the stabbing, and two children, the IDF said. One of his children, a two-year-old, was lightly injured in the attack. Adele Banita and the baby were both said to be in stable condition by Sunday morning.
Banita was off duty and was wearing religious garb and not an IDF uniform when he was attacked.
A Jewish man carries a baby injured in a stabbing attack in the Old City of Jerusalem on October 3, 2015. The terrorist was shot down by police. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
http://www.timesofisrael.com/stabbing-victim-aharon-banita-was-idf-soldier-army-confirms/
