Bat-El Ohana

June 11, 2003 - Bat-El Ohana, 21, of Kiryat Ata was one of 17 people killed in a suicide bombing on bus No. 14A on Jaffa Road in the center of Jerusalem.

At around 17:30, the bomber, dressed as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, boarded Egged bus No. 14A at the Mahane Yehuda market, and a short while later, as the bus drove down Jaffa Road near the Davidka Square, detonated his bomb, wrecking the bus and killing 16 of its passengers. Over 100 people were wounded, including dozens of passersby. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Bat-El Ohana was born in Haifa, the oldest in the family. As an albino, she suffered severe vision problems. After completing her studies at the Bialik School in Kiryat Ata in a regular class, she transferred to the School for the Blind in Jerusalem. Returning to Kiryat Ata, she graduated from the Rogozin High School. Her last year she spent at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, in a special preparatory course for the visually impaired.

Bat-El and Yaniv Obayed were planning to be married. They were seated together on the bus, on the way to a job interview for Yaniv. Both were killed.

Bat-El Ohana was buried in the new cemetery at the Iblin junction. She is survived by her parents, Meir and Alona, two sisters, Sivan and Gitit, and a brother.