Ganeles graduated from Columbia University with a sustainable development and neuroscience degree after serving in the Israeli military as a computer programmer
Elan Ganeles, an Israeli-American, has been named as the victim in a terrorist attack on Monday in the West Bank, close to Jericho.
In the midst of an upsurge in violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the region, Ganeles, a 27-year-old man, was shot and killed while driving close to the West Bank city of Jericho.
Ganeles was raised in West Hartford, Connecticut, where he attended Modern Orthodox schools, and his family joined Young Israel of West Hartford synagogue. He graduated from Columbia University with a sustainable development and neuroscience degree after serving in the Israeli military as a computer programmer.
An email from Young Israel of West Hartford was issued to the congregation informing them that Ganeles’s burial would occur in Israel, and the family would then return to Connecticut to observe shiva – the Jewish ritual for mourning the dead. In addition, the synagogue has opened a page for donations to support the family.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides confirmed the murdered was a U.S. citizen on Twitter earlier on Monday, saying, “I pray for his family.”
According to the Israeli military, during the attack, several gunmen arrived by car on Route 90, close to a military post, and started shooting at an Israeli-owned vehicle. The terrorists then kept going and fired at a second vehicle close to the Beit Ha’arava Junction before moving on and shooting at a third vehicle nearby.
