Hundreds Attend Jerusalem Funeral of Man Killed in Suspected Stone Throwing Attack

Hundreds of Israelis attended the funeral on Wednesday of a man who died in a car crash suspected to have been caused when stones were thrown at his vehicle. The incident occurred on Sunday as 64-year-old Alexander Levlovitz was traveling home after celebrating the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

According to Israeli police, Levlovitz crashed his car into an electrical pylon after he was targeted by stone throwers. They are investigating whether Levlovitz suffered a cardiac arrest at the wheel of his car after it crashed. Two passengers were also injured in the incident.

His funeral was attended by relatives and friends as well as Israel's deputy defence minister and the mayor of Jerusalem.

"How can I go on without you? To [not] feel your unconditional love? You rest in the soil of the city in which you were born, which you loved, in which you were murdered," his son said at the ceremony, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed at an emergency meeting late on Tuesday that he would "use all necessary measures" to prevent stone throwing and firebomb attacks in the holy city.

"On the eve of the holiday it was again proven that throwing stones can kill. Such actions will be met with very sharp punitive and preventive responses," he said in a statement released to Newsweek by his office. "We will lead systemic changes and will set a new standard of deterrence and prevention."

Netanyahu announced that "heavy fines" will be handed to minors who throw stones and other projectiles, while their parents will also be fined. The Israeli leader's office also confirmed that open-fire orders, which currently prevent Israeli authorities shooting to kill stone throwers, will be examined for amendment.