JERUSALEM, Sept. 23, 2026 — The son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States was critically injured Wednesday after a Palestinian man rammed a vehicle into a security checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli military and law enforcement officials.

Neria Leiter, a reservist serving in Israel’s military, was seriously wounded in the attack near the Jewish settlement of Beit Horon. His father, Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, said in a social media post that his son “needs a miracle.”

According to Israeli authorities, the driver rammed his vehicle into the checkpoint and seriously injured the soldier. Israeli forces at the scene then opened fire as the driver attempted to flee, killing him.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the suspected attacker as Mahmoud Suleiman.

Additional Israeli military forces were deployed in the area following the incident. The location lies near a major highway connecting Jerusalem with Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog both expressed support for Leiter and wished him a recovery. Herzog described the soldier as “fighting for his life.”

Netanyahu visited Leiter’s family at the hospital on Wednesday night before leaving for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

Leiter’s family has previously suffered a loss connected to the ongoing conflict. His older son, Moshe Yedidya Leiter, who also served in the Israeli military, was killed in Gaza about a month after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war in Gaza.

The latest attack came amid heightened violence in the West Bank. An Israeli man was killed in a shooting attack there earlier in the week, while recent months have also seen increased settler attacks against Palestinians, evictions from Palestinian communities, Israeli military operations and Palestinian attacks against Israelis, according to the report.

The incident occurred during the Jewish High Holy Days, shortly after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is regarded as the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Yechiel Leiter has also played a role in recent diplomatic efforts involving Israel and Lebanon. In April, he participated in the first direct diplomatic talks between the two countries in decades in Washington.

In June, Leiter, Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon, describing it as a potential first step toward peace following renewed fighting involving Hezbollah.

SOURCE: Associated Press (AP), September 23, 2026.