Belha Yanon, z"l, was a 76-year-old artist from Netiv Hatara who loved to create mandalas and was engaged in recycling. On Saturday morning, she and her husband Jacobi were murdered. Their house was completely burned down. The couple were parents to five and grandparents to 11 grandchildren. Their son Maoz Yanon is the founder of the "Abraham Hostel" chain.Belha was supposed to celebrate her 76th birthday at the end of October.Her granddaughter, Mai, recalls: "At the age of 65, when my grandmother retired from her job as an art teacher, she learned to make mandalas and really fell in love with it....

Grandma was especially patient and attentive. She always gave me the feeling that what I say is the most important thing. That's why it was very pleasant to be in her company. We talked every day, she told me about books she read, about movies she watched, about exhibitions she wanted us to see together.


We would meet every two weeks, at their place or at our place, in Tel Aviv. The last time was on the eve of Simchat Torah, a few hours before the disaster. We offered them to stay and sleep with us but they didn't want to. Grandfather said that he likes to sleep in their bed and he is not afraid of anything. It's not that he felt something was going to happen, he always said so."