Israeli ambassador’s son seriously injured in West Bank checkpoint incident

The son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States was seriously injured when a vehicle drove toward Israeli forces at a West Bank checkpoint, Israeli officials said. The Palestinian driver was shot dead, and the ambassador said doctors were fighting to save his son’s life.

Ambassador Yechiel Leiter identified the injured soldier as his son Neria, an Israeli military reservist. “I am grateful to the IDF, to the medical team at Shaare Zedek who are now fighting to save the life of Neria Dov ben Chana, and for the prayers of the people of Israel,” he wrote on social media.

“Neria needs a miracle,” Leiter added.

The Israeli military described the incident as a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint in the central West Bank. It said a soldier was severely injured and that security forces killed the driver. Israeli police said the vehicle drove toward forces stationed at a checkpoint near the settlement of Beit Horon. Israel’s national emergency services said the soldier was taken to a hospital in serious condition. CBS News reported that Neria Leiter was being treated at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

The accounts differed on timing: CBS News reported that the incident took place Tuesday, while Al Jazeera described it as occurring Wednesday. CBS News placed it in the area of the Maccabim checkpoint, west of Ramallah; Al Jazeera cited the police account locating it near Beit Horon.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the dead man as 29-year-old Mahmoud Mohammad Mahmoud Suleiman, Al Jazeera reported. The ministry said Israeli authorities were holding his body. CBS News, citing the Associated Press, also reported the ministry’s identification of him as Mahmoud Suleiman.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, sent a message of support to the ambassador. “My wife Sarah and I, together with all the people of Israel, are praying for a miracle,” he wrote in a statement translated from Hebrew by CBS News. “Yechiel, my dear, we are all with you.”

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also expressed solidarity, saying, “All of Israel is praying for your son.”

The family lost another son, Maj. Moshe Yedidya Leiter, in Gaza in November 2023. CBS News reported that he was killed in battle in northern Gaza on Nov. 10 of that year. Yechiel Leiter said Neria continued serving in the reserves after his brother’s death and had completed “hundreds of reserve duty days on various fronts since October 7th.” Leiter has served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States since January 2025.