Son of Israel’s US ambassador moved to rehab after West Bank car-ramming attack

Neriya Leiter, an Israeli Defense Forces reservist and the son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, was discharged from Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem and transferred to Sheba Medical Center for continued rehabilitation. The transfer follows more than a month of treatment after he was critically wounded in a Palestinian car-ramming attack at a checkpoint on Route 443 in the West Bank on September 23.

Leiter, who was serving alongside a police officer at the time of the assault, sustained severe head injuries. He was evacuated to Shaare Zedek’s trauma unit, where teams from trauma, neurosurgery and intensive care worked to stabilize his condition. He underwent multiple neurosurgical and orthopedic operations and spent several weeks sedated and on a ventilator in the general intensive care unit under the supervision of Prof. Philip Levin.

After his condition stabilized, he was moved to the hospital’s neurological-neurosurgical intensive care unit, where senior neurosurgeon Dr. Yevgeny Karpov oversaw his care. Although he remains unconscious, he is breathing independently. The transfer to Sheba Medical Center is intended to focus on neurological injury treatment and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation.

Leiter’s older brother, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, was killed in northern Gaza in November 2023, and Neriya had served hundreds of days in the reserves since the October 7 attacks. Medical staff at Shaare Zedek noted the family’s resilience and expressed hopes for his recovery.