Mourners hold signs outside the cemetery hosting the funeral of Israeli-American Elan Ganeles, on March 1, 2023, in Raanana. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (Tribune News Service) — A Jewish graduate of Columbia University was gunned down while visiting Israel for a friend’s wedding, and two Palestinian suspects were arrested Wednesday in the killing.
Elan Ganeles, 27, of West Hartford, Connecticut, was shot to death Monday while driving on a highway near the Dead Sea — the lone fatality in a shooting spree that set off a manhunt for the killers, according to Israeli leaders.
The two arrested men are suspected of involvement in the killing, according to Israeli officials, and a third man was taken into custody after their arrests in a refugee camp raid when he was shot while trying to flee.
The victim held dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship and served in the Israel Defense Forces from 2016 to 2018.
“Elan Ganeles was a New Yorker,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “His loss is a tragedy. His generation deserves a world free of terror, a world where we stand up in the face of hate and reject the forces who divide us. We stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel today. We stand for peace.”
Ganeles, who studied both neuroscience and sustainable development at Columbia, was honored at a Tuesday night vigil on campus.
The attackers set their own vehicle afire and fled after the shooting, according to The Associated Press.
“I can’t comprehend that you were killed in an act of terror. You were the kindest, sweetest, most caring friend,” said a Facebook post from friend Stanley Block, a Connecticut native who lives in Israel. “There are no words to describe the unique friendship you created with every person you met. You found only the good in everyone and everything.”
Ganeles was active in the Jewish group Columbia/Barnard Hillel while attending the university, with its members offering a fond recollection of the victim.
“We will miss his wry humor and thoughtful manner of discussing challenging or controversial topics,” read a statement from the group.
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