“Uri Moyal saved my life”

“Uri was a hero, he saved my life,” said Yona Uri Shafner, who helped the late Uri Mayel neutralize the terrorist in the attack at the Aroma branch at the Beit Kama intersection last Thursday, and arrived today (Tuesday) at the Mayel family home in Dimona to comfort the mourners.

Shafner, 25 years old, arrived in Israel about a week ago from Washington, D.C. in a leadership program for young Jews. “We had a lunch break at Beit Kama, and I was standing in line to buy coffee. When I saw the terrorist and Uri, I thought at first that he was hugging me at all, and then suddenly I saw the knife. I wrestled with the terrorist on the floor and grabbed his hands. I saw Uri fall, get up and step on the weapon. Uri and I spoke with our eyes, without words. I realized that I had to leave the terrorist and run away in order to shoot him. Uri literally saved my life.” In the videos, Moyal is seen, despite the severe injury he received, which eventually killed him, getting up, stepping on his personal gun and shooting the terrorist.

Despite the difficult event he experienced, Shafner clarifies that he does not regret coming to Israel, and that precisely at this time it is of great importance that young Jews come to the country and connect with it. “It is very significant to get to know Israel, the people. To get to Mount Herzl and to Yad Vashem, connect with this story and understand the real reality of life here.”

Uri Moyal’s brother, Chairman of the Union of Building and Related Industries Workers Yitzhak Moyal, hugged Shafner and told him: “We are a family of ten brothers, very united and close, and you are now part of our family. You were a messenger of the Jewish people and helped Uri save human lives.”

“Uri was the eldest in a family of five brothers and five sisters,” says Moyal. “He was the glue that connected us. A happy boy who is always the nail of the event.” 51 years old in Nefo, Uri Moyal was a foreman in the technology and maintenance department at the Nahal Army – and known to many of the soldiers and commanders of the brigade. “He was proud of his service. Professional and loved by everyone. His friends always called him ‘the magician’. Giving was deep in his character. He took care of, for example, about 120 lone soldiers from all over the world for Sabbaths and holidays. He was truly a model of giving and dedication.” For his activities with individual soldiers, he was even awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the head of the Technology and Logistics Division in the IDF.

Moyal left behind a wife, three children and two grandchildren.