Yoav Hattab

Thirty years later, Hattab family loses another member to anti-Semitism

Yoav Hattab, 21, was killed during the kosher supermarket attack in France; his aunt Yehudit Bucharis was killed in 1985 attack in Tunisian synagogue.

Michal Margalit

Published: 01.12.15, 23:34 / Israel News

The attack at the Hyper Cacher grocery store in suburban Paris on Friday was not the first time terror has struck the family of Yoav Hattab – one of the four victims who was killed during the gruesome attack in France.

Hattab's aunt, who he had never met, was killed when she was 14-years-old during an attack on a syngagoe on the island of Djerba in Tunisia.

On October 8th 1985, a local police officer opened fire during Simchat Torah prayers at the synagogue, killing three people – one of them Yehudit Bucharis. Yehudit's mother, and Yoav's grandmother, now lives in the city of Ofakim in southern Israel.

Yoav's father learned that his son had died while trying to overcome the terrorist. According to Rabbi Hattab, his son hid in a freezer but was forced to leave his hiding spot after the terrorist threatened to kill everyone if those who hid did not join the rest of the hostages.

When Yoav left the freezer, he found a weapon; however when Yoav tried to fire the weapon it did not budge – and the terrorist shot him.

"I spoke with the President of France Francois Hollande and I told him that if the police had not waited 4-5 hours, maybe my son would still be alive. He lost blood," said Rabbi Hattab in the interview with Channel 20.