The husband and father of three British-Israelis who were murdered in the West Bank last month told Sky News he was immensely proud of both his wife and daughters and called for the international community come together to bring about peace between Israelis & Palestinians.
In an exclusive interview conducted at his family’s home in Efrat settlement, Rabbi Leo Dee expressed his belief that the tragedy could bring some good and praised Britain for its new response.
The Dee Family was driving through the Jordan Valley on the West Bank, on Friday 7th April. They were on their way to Lake Galilee for a Passover celebration.
Leo Dee, with his two children in another car, was driving ahead.
The gunmen who shot at Lucy Dee’s car also hit her two daughters, Maia (20) and Rina (15), as they were in the vehicle.
The terrorists then stopped their car and fired again. Near the car, 20 bullet casings had been found. Maia and Rina, who were declared dead on the scene. Lucy was airlifted for emergency surgery to a hospital near Jerusalem.
I called Lucy but got no answer. I called Maia and got no response. I called Rina and got no answer. We were a little panicked at this point, and I checked Google family link to find that they were in Hamra Junction. That seemed to be the location of this attack.
“My son got a picture of the car from this website.” We only saw the car and our suitcases were covered in blood.
The police refused to let them go back to their car.
They were then shown Maia’s ID card. They knew that the worst was over at this point.
“We bombed down the motorway towards Jerusalem, went to hospital, and she [Lucy] was just being taken into intensive care, and was being prepped for an operation.
“The night before the attack I was in the hospital, and I had nightmares. I woke up, and my reality was even worse than my nightmares. I went back into sleep, and then had another nightmare. “All I could see was the crash, the terrorists, and the bullets.
“The following night, I decided that I would focus on what was good. I suddenly thought of my two daughters and son, and felt calm. I could then sleep.”
Lucy died three days after her injuries . Five lives were saved by her donation of her organs.
Rabbi Dee explained: “She was declared deceased on Monday, and that afternoon we spent, one by one, half an hour or an hour to speak to her. We sang to her and had plenty of time with her.”
One of her recipients was an Arab.
“It is important to us, because Lucy was very interested in peaceful relations with our neighbors and I believe she would be very proud of having saved the life an Arab.”
The Jewish mourning period is seven days long. Thousands of people from Israel and around the world have traveled to pay respects to the Shiva family and to bring food.
Benjamin Netanyahu , Prime Minister of Israel, had just arrived by helicopter with his family.
Rabbi Dee stated that Lucy was a remarkable human being. “She was a builder of communities, someone who gave. That was her defining characteristic.
The kids have learned to give and are better off for it.
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Reena attended boarding school while Maia worked as a counselor in a school.
She would spend the night with girls, especially those who were having difficulties in their group. She would help them overcome their problems. She was always busy. “I’m very proud of all of them.”
Rabbi Dee grew up and was born in England. He studied at Cambridge University, and Lucy was studying at Oxford. They met and were married in Oxford.
He was later an assistant Rabbi in a north London synagogue before moving to Radlett, Hertfordshire. In 2005, they moved to Israel.
Rabbi Dee thanked the British Foreign Minister James Cleverly, for hardening Britain’s initial response to the attack. He called it the “Cleverly Declaration” and compared it to the Balfour Declaration from 1917 that said Britain would back the formation of an independent Jewish state in Palestine.
“I consider that this statement that Britain is unambiguously against violence and terror is a milestone in British history, in terms of how it has dealt with Israel.
He said: “Up to now, there hasn’t been an unequivocal denunciation of violent acts, but rather a sort of wishy washy condemnation, which I believe is a little the Foreign Office’s fault.”
“He [Cleverly] did the right thing. He did the real thing. I can’t thank him enough. This could be the start of a new cycle for peace.
Terrorists are evil and terrorists are evil. “They must be told this and treated as such.”
Israeli security and military services continue to hunt for the attacker but so far, without success.
I don’t hate them. I believe that the Israeli security force will do what it usually does, which is track them down and bring to justice. I think this is the right thing to do because it prevents them from committing another attack.
“I believe in God, I have faith and I hope that violence is caused by a very small number of Palestinians. The vast majority of Palestinians who are good people.
They are victims of the Palestinian government, just as the people of Gaza are victims of that regime.