JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, flew back to Israel Thursday morning and went directly to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where his son Neria Leiter is fighting for his life after being seriously wounded in a terrorist attack on Highway 443.

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Neria, a reservist combat soldier and resident of the Havat Yair community in Samaria, was among police personnel stationed at a checkpoint Wednesday when a terrorist driving a vehicle rammed into him.

Neria underwent a complex brain operation overnight that lasted several hours. Prof. Alexander Yoskovich of Shaare Zedek said Thursday morning that Neria’s condition had stabilized following a series of examinations and surgeries, but that he remained in critical condition and his life was still in danger.

“After a series of examinations and surgeries, we can say that his condition is stable,” Yuskovich said. “His condition is still serious and his life is in danger, but we are full of hope.”

Leiter arrived at the hospital after flying overnight from New York, where he had been preparing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United Nations.

“I want to thank the senior medical team treating our son Neria,” Leiter said at the hospital. “We feel that we are in the best hands. We understood that it was a very difficult night. When I boarded the plane yesterday in New York, while preparing for the prime minister’s UN visit, there was concern that I would be arriving without hope. Thank God, the doctors were able to stabilize Neria’s condition. His life is still in danger.”

For the Leiter family, the attack reopened the trauma of another devastating loss.

In November 2023, the family lost another son, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, who was killed fighting in the Gaza Strip.

“This experience is different from the night three years ago when I heard the knock on the door after my son had fallen,” Yechiel Leiter said. “He died immediately. There was no possibility then of bringing him to a hospital and allowing Israel’s finest doctors to work on him.”

“This time we had the opportunity to gather around Neria’s bed, say Tehillim and mobilize the people of Israel to pray for his recovery.”

Leiter said Neria and Moshe had grown up together and had been extremely close.

“Neria grew up with Moshe in the same room. They were best friends, and Neria has led the family since Moshe’s death,” he said.

The family has faced another extraordinary development amid the crisis. Leiter’s eldest daughter, Sarah, arrived at her brother’s bedside Wednesday while pregnant. Her husband is a combat officer who served as a battalion commander in the IDF’s Shaked Battalion. Sarah had previously given birth to a daughter named Shaked during the war and was expecting another child.

While visiting her critically wounded brother, Sarah went into labor after her water broke, about two weeks before her due date. Sarah gave birth Thursday morning, while her brother remained hospitalized just 40 meters away in the same medical complex.

Leiter described the remarkable scene, saying that Sarah is now recovering from childbirth while her brother remains in intensive care nearby.

Neria’s mother, Hani Leiter, told Army Radio that the family initially feared the attack had involved an explosive device.

“His wife started crying and came to tell me. At first she said, ‘I thought it was an explosive device,’” she recalled.

Hani said the family remains deeply shaken after losing Moshe. “You cannot get used to it,” she said. “We are still in shock. His wife keeps saying, ‘I can’t believe this is happening to us.’ She said she was worried when he served in Lebanon, but this close to home?”

She recalled how Neria had tried to hold the family together after his death.

“After Moshe fell, Neria so wanted to bring all of us together. He helped all of us. He held our hands. He was amazing,” she said. “We are holding on to life.”

Neria’s wife has also begun explaining the situation to their children. Their eldest son, 11, was told about his father’s condition Wednesday evening, Hani said.

As Neria remains in critical condition, the Leiter family is now confronting a painful juxtaposition: a son fighting for his life following a terror attack, while just 40 meters away, his sister is recovering after bringing a new life into the world.