Idit Fried

Mar 27, 2002 - Idit Fried, 47, of Netanya was one of 30 people killed in a suicide bombing in the Park Hotel in the coastal city of Netanya, in the midst of the Passover holiday seder.

On the eve of Passover, the terrorist walked into the dining room of the hotel, located in the center of Netanya, where 250 guests had just sat down to begin the seder. He detonated an explosive device, killing 22 immediately and injuring 140, eight of whom subsequently died. The bomber was identified as a member of the Hamas Iz a Din al-Kassam Brigades, from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, which is just 10 kilometers (six miles) east of Netanya. He was on the list of wanted terrorists Israel had requested be arrested.

Idit Fried immigrated to Israel from Hungary with her husband Andre in the late 1970s. She was a nurse in Laniado Hospital and also helped Israelis arrange to study medicine in Hungary.

During the last few years, they celebrated the Passover seder at the Park Hotel, a short walk from their home in Netanya. This year they were to celebrate together with Andre's mother and step-father, Idit's mother, and their two children. The children phoned to say they were delayed; Idit and Andre Fried were both killed, as was Andre's stepfather, George Yakobovitch and mother Anna.

It was a painful moment for the workers at Laniado when Idit's children arrived at the hospital searching for their parents. "We knew Idit and her husband. In all this mess and misery, we were suddenly worrying about people we knew and loved," said Edith's coworkers.

Idit Fried was buried in Netanya, alongside her husband Andre. She is survived by her mother, daughter Shirli, 21, and son Tom, 16.