Slain IDF soldier Ron Kokia. Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Office

Ron Kokia, an Israeli soldier stabbed to death in the southern city of Arad last Thursday, was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul on Sunday.

His funeral was attended by almost a thousand people, the Hebrew-language website Walla reported.

Kokia’s family members gave a series of emotional eulogies, with his older brother Dor lamenting his inability to save his sibling, saying, “Forgive me that I wasn’t at your side and I did not defend you with my body at the moment they attacked you.”

Ron’s sister Shani also spoke, stating, “What a cruel world that would take you from us and lay you down here alone.”

Boaz, Ron’s father, used the occasion to criticize the state, saying it “doesn’t do enough to defend its citizens from our enemies foreign and domestic. Ron was taught to respect people but also to be suspicious of them. It seems to me that on Thursday he wasn’t suspicious enough.”

A delegation of government representatives and IDF officers also attended the funeral, with Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Okunis being the highest level official to take part. MK Oren Hazan, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, and the IDF’s Head of Central Command General Roni Numa were also present.

Despite a massive manhunt, Kokia’s killer or killers have not yet been found.