Neria Leiter, the son of Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, was seriously wounded on Wednesday in a car-ramming terrorist attack at the Maccabim checkpoint on Route 443 near Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut. He is under sedation and in serious condition at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
The wound fell on a family already marked by war. Leiter said he was returning to Israel from the United States and would not join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, a schedule shattered by the news that his son, an American citizen and IDF reservist, had been hurt while serving in the reserves. The attacker was killed by IDF troops.
That detail sharpened the blow. Yechiel Leiter said Neria had kept serving after the family lost another son, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, in Gaza in 2023. Moshe Yedidya had been a company commander in the 551st Brigade’s 697th Battalion, and his father said Neria went on to serve hundreds of days on multiple fronts since October 7. The younger Leiter was wounded while in uniform, in an attack officials described as terrorism, and his family now waits for signs that sedation and treatment will turn the fight in his direction.
The first response came quickly from across Israel and beyond. Netanyahu said he and Sara were praying for a miracle. Mike Huckabee said he was standing with Yechiel Leiter and his family. Danny Danon said all of Israel was praying for Neria Dov ben Chana, while Israel Katz sent support and prayers for his recovery. Gideon Sa'ar wrote that his heart and prayers were with Leiter, and Yossi Dagan said the Samaria Regional Council would assist the family.
Leiter, trying to hold the event inside words that were bigger than the moment, thanked the IDF, the medical team at Shaare Zedek and those praying for his son. He said he believes in prayer and in what happens when the people of Israel unite. For now, the urgent fact is not the attacker’s name or motive, but that Neria Leiter remains in serious condition after an assault at a checkpoint that has now cut straight into one of Israel’s most visible diplomatic families.
