The security guard killed in a terror shooting at the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Ariel on Friday night was identified as 23-year-old Vyacheslav Golev.
Golev was a former student at Ariel University. He had recently moved to live with his fiancée in the West Bank community. They were engaged just a few weeks before the attack.
He is survived by his parents and seven siblings who live in Beit Shemesh, and his fiancée who was stationed at the guard post during the attack.
Golev used his body to shield her from the hail of bullets, saving her life, according to military officials.
His fiancée, named as Victoria Fligelman from the southern city of Ashkelon, was not wounded in the attack
The Beit Shemesh municipality said it was embracing Golev’s family. “The security guard showed supreme heroism and saved the life of the security guard who worked with him,” Major Aliza Bloch said.
An undated photo of Vyacheslav Golev who was killed in a shooting attack near Ariel on April 29, and his fiancée, Victoria Fligelman. (Courtesy)
The Ashkelon municipality said it would be assisting Fligelman and her family following the attack.
Ashkelon Mayor Tomer Galam said Golev showed “heroic bravery” when he protected his fiancée.
An undated photo of Vyacheslav Golev, who was killed in a shooting attack near Ariel on April 29. (Courtesy)
The date and time of Golev’s funeral were not immediately set.
After a 20-hour manhunt, counterterrorism forces arrested two Palestinians allegedly behind the deadly terrorist attack. The suspected gunmen were arrested on Saturday evening in the nearby town of Qarawat Bani Hassan.
Footage of the Friday night attack showed a blue Suzuki vehicle driving up to a guard post, where a gunman in the passenger seat opened fire.
The gunman and the driver then both got out and both fired into the guard post before driving off.
Golev’s death was declared at the scene.
A resident of the nearby settlement of Binyamin told Ynet on Saturday that, a week before the attack, he had seen the terrorist’s vehicle speeding toward Ariel.
He said he had been driving on Route 5 with his family, when the blue Suzuki sped past them in the parallel lane, going in the wrong direction.
He said his family caught the license plate number and reported the incident to the police, and realized it was the car used in the attack after seeing news reports about the shooting.
Shattered window of a guard post targeted in a shooting attack, at the entrance to Ariel, in the West Bank, on April 30, 2022 (Flash90)
The attack came as tensions have risen sharply between Israel and the Palestinians in recent weeks against the backdrop of repeated terror attacks in Israeli cities that left 14 dead.
The escalation has come amid the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — often a period of high tension in Israel and the West Bank.
The army has stepped up its West Bank activities in an attempt to crack down on the spiraling violence. The ensuing raids sparked clashes that left at least 26 Palestinians dead, many of whom took part in the clashes, while others appeared to have been uninvolved civilians.
