Neriah Leiter, the son of Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, has been identified as the reservist seriously injured in a vehicle ramming attack at the Maccabim checkpoint on Route 443 near Modi’in. On September 23, 2026, a Palestinian driver from Beit Ur al-Tahta deliberately targeted security forces at the site. Leiter sustained a critical head injury and remains unconscious at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, while the attacker was shot dead on the scene.

The incident marks a second devastating blow for the Leiter family during the ongoing conflict. Neriah’s older brother, Major Moshe Yedidya Leiter, was killed while fighting in Gaza in November 2023. The latest attack has drawn renewed attention to the personal toll on families of Israeli officials and raised questions about security along major routes near Modi’in, the condition of the injured reservist, and how the family is coping with successive losses.