The brothers were swept off to sea by strong currents during their family’s visit
to the Ashkelon coast. After four days of rescue efforts which involved the
Israeli Navy, police ships, jet skis, helicopter, and divers, the third
brother’s body, Nahed Sariye was discovered on Sunday, when he was buried along
his brothers Suliman and Atef.
It now has been revealed that two other brothers from the Sariye family had
been saved by Yaakov Bruchim, a 22-year-old from Ashkelon. Bruchim was walking
back home following prayers at his synagogue, when he saw a helicopter at
Ashkelon’s DelilahBeach.
“I asked myself what a helicopter was doing at the beach,” Bruchim told
Israel’s Walla! News. “Suddenly, I heard shouting and didn’t understand
why.”
At that point, Bruchim saw the two brothers drowning and immediately jumped into
the water and pulled one of the brothers, Salaam, 22, out to shore. He entered
the deep waters again and pulled the other brother, Salman, 19, out as well.
Hassan Sariye, the father of the boys, said that although he lost three
sons, he gained another in Yaakov Bruchim. “God took away three sons but gave
us another,” the emotional father told Public Security Minister Yitzchak
Aharonovitch, who visited the bereaved family on Tuesday.
“He [Yaakov] is one of those people who don’t care about race, gender, or
origin. He is a beautiful face of Israel,” said Sariye.
Even after saving the two brothers, Yaakov continued to stay with the Sariye
family for the four days of search and rescue until the other bodies had been
found. “He’s here all the time,” said Hassan. “He is like my son, one of the
brothers, and my home is open to him and his family 24 hours.”
The modest Bruchim explained that he “didn’t do anything, but if I could
have done more, I would have.” “He is like my brother,” Bruchim said of Salaam.
“With people like him, we can live in peace.”