Seven weeks after a Palestinian terrorist rammed his car into an IDF checkpoint on Route 443, Neria Leiter has left the hospital. He is breathing on his own but has not yet opened his eyes. As his mother walked out of Shaare Zedek behind him, she heard the voice of her other son, the one Hamas killed in Gaza.
Neria Leiter, the son of Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the US, was discharged from Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem and transferred to a neurological rehabilitation center on Wednesday. He was moved to the specialized sub-acute brain rehabilitation unit at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer. According to the hospital, he “remains unconscious but is breathing on his own.”
Since the attack, Jews and Christians on five continents have been praying for him by his Hebrew name. One of them, former Knesset member Rabbi Yehuda Glick, paid for his prayer with a six-month ban from Judaism’s holiest site.
The attack
Neria Dov Leiter, an IDF reservist, was critically wounded on September 23 when a Palestinian terrorist drove a vehicle into a security checkpoint near Maccabim on Route 443. He is 39, an economist, and the father of four children. He has served about 450 days of reserve duty since the war began, although he could have avoided further service.
He arrived at Shaare Zedek fighting for his life. His life was in immediate danger for several days. He had several neurosurgical procedures and major orthopedic operations. He spent several weeks in the general intensive care unit, sedated and on a ventilator.
Ambassador Leiter flew home from Washington. At his son’s bedside, he named the purpose of the attack. “The goal of the attack on Netanel Shakron, on my son Neria yesterday, the goal is to uproot us from this place,” he said. “That is the bottom line. Everything else is chatter.”
A second son
The Leiters have already buried one son in this war. Neria’s older brother, Major Moshe Yedidya Leiter, was a father of six and company commander in the IDF’s 551st Brigade. He was killed fighting Hamas in northern Gaza in November 2023. The two grew up sharing a room, and since Moshe fell, Neria has played a central role in holding the family together.
The ambassador described how the two blows differed. “Moshe died immediately. There was no possibility of bringing him to a hospital, operating on him,” he said. “There was also no opportunity for us to gather around his bedside, say Psalms and mobilize the people of Israel to pray.”
This time, the people of Israel and their friends did mobilize. “Hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps millions by now, are praying together, Jews and non-Jews,” he said, “for the recovery of our Neria.” His appeal was broad: “Continue the prayers. We need a miracle. We are in need of a miracle. Jews, Christians, anyone who cares about this phenomenon of the return of the people of Israel to their land.”
Jews and Christians on five continents
The response was immediate. Israel365 News reported that Jews and Christians around the world united in prayer for Neria Dov ben Chana.
On September 24, the day after the attack, Jonathan Feldstein opened a global prayer call from central Jerusalem. Scores of participants joined from five continents, including Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Olivier Melnick of Texas, who teaches Christians to fight antisemitism, prayed first. “Lord, we are asking for a miracle,” he said. Nina Hickman of South Africa prayed: “You say that You are our Healer… there’s nothing impossible for you.” Erica Schachne, a Jewish Jerusalemite, closed with a charge: “Be that candle. Share the light, share the prayer, and keep praying for him.”
In the United States, the Black Christian Leadership Council on Israel Relations invited pastors, congregations, prayer networks, and friends of Israel worldwide to pray by name for Neria Dov ben Chana.
Banned from the Temple Mount for a [rayer
The most costly prayer was said on the Temple Mount. Former Knesset member Yehuda Glick was barred by police from entering the Temple Mount for six months after he recited a Mi Shebeirach there for Neria Leiter. The Mi Shebeirach is the traditional prayer for the sick: “May He who blessed our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, bless and heal…”
Jerusalem District Police Commander Avshalom Peled signed the order, which runs from September 24, 2026 through March 24, 2027. It states that its purpose is to “prevent severe harm to life or property.”
Glick survived an assassination attempt by a terrorist in 2014 for his activism on behalf of prayer rights on the Mount. He did not hold back. “I’ve been ascending the Temple Mount for 40 years. I always follow the guidelines,” he said. “The Temple Mount police are persecuting me with evil, with malice, for no wrong done to me. These people hurt me many times more than the man who tried to assassinate me hurt me. And after all this, I lift my hands to the higher G-d and commit that they won’t manage to break me.”
The prophet Isaiah described God’s house as “a house of prayer for all peoples.” At that house today, a prayer for a wounded Jewish soldier is grounds for exile.
“The Lamp of the LORD”
The name Neria (נֵרִיָּה) joins two Hebrew words: ner, “candle” or “lamp,” and Yah, a name of God. It means “the lamp of God.” His second name, Dov, means “bear,” the Bible’s picture of fierce strength.
The name belongs to the Bible. Neriah was the father of Baruch, the faithful scribe of the prophet Jeremiah. In Jerusalem’s darkest hour, with the Babylonian army surrounding the city, Jeremiah bought a field in his hometown of Anatot and handed the deed to Baruch son of Neriah. It was a public act of faith that the Jewish people would return to their land. God told the prophet: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land” (Jeremiah 32:15).
The ambassador said the terrorist’s goal was “to uproot us from this place.” Baruch son of Neriah held the deed that said the opposite.
King Solomon used the same image of a lamp for the human soul:
“The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inward parts” (Proverbs 20:27).
The Hebrew for “the lamp of the LORD” is ner Hashem, the same root as Neria’s name. While his body lies unconscious, his family and friends believe the lamp inside him is still burning, and they are praying for it to shine again. Erica Schachne’s charge to “be that candle” reads differently once the meaning of his name is known.
“Ima, Hakol Beseder”
Neria’s mother, Chani Leiter, spoke to Arutz Sheva as he was moved to rehabilitation. “Until now, Neria has been in intensive care, and it’s been really a roller coaster,” she said. “He has stabilized, which is a very nice thing, and he’s able now to deal with rehabilitation. Thank God. And now it’s time to just try to work on every muscle that we can, in his brain and everything we can work on, to help him come out of unconsciousness and return to himself.”
She described the strength she draws from the prayers. “A lot of Christians have also been praying for Neria,” she said. “Any kind of Jew has been writing me and telling me that they’re doing hafrashat challah, they’re doing different things for Neria, different prayers. If you have the whole Jewish people behind you, you can’t fall. It’s giving me such strength.”
After the recent azkarah (memorial service) for Moshe, “we had a tefillah, a big tefillah for Neria,” she said. “A lot of people there were also crying, but also said that they were given a shot of Zionism and faith together. And we want to continue with that faith.”
Leaving the hospital brought mixed emotions, “because Neria is still unconscious and we still have a long way to go. And we don’t know what will be. We’re just hoping and praying.” Then she described what she heard. “As I was walking out of Shaare Zedek, I heard Moshe. I heard Moshe’s voice in my head saying, ‘Ima, hakol beseder. Ima, hakol beseder.'” The words mean “Mom, everything is okay.”
“We’re doing the right thing. We’re going to the right place,” she said. “And we’re doing whatever we can that Neria should come back to the family standing and being healthy.”
The Road Ahead
Ambassador Leiter thanked the medical staff on X and set out what comes next. “Despite this transition, his condition remains complex, and the road to recovery is long and arduous,” he wrote. “Neria remains unconscious and will require several additional surgeries.” His faith has not wavered: “I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that when the people of Israel unite, miracles happen.”
A terrorist tried to uproot a family from its land. The family answered with a call to prayer that Jews and Christians around the world have kept up for seven weeks. The lamp of God is still burning. The family asks everyone to keep praying for the complete recovery of Neria Dov ben Chana.
