In a case of mistaken identity, a frum woman was critically injured on Monday evening after being shot in her head while driving in her car with her young daughter in Bat Yam.

Witnesses to the incident said that the perpetrator stood on the sidewalk and fired at the intersection, hitting Adi Peretz, 36, who lost control of her vehicle and ended up on the sidewalk.  “We ran to the car,” a witness said. “She couldn’t talk, she was in shock. Her four-year-old daughter was crying and we took her out of the car and waited for the ambulance.”

Police, who said that Peretz has no criminal background, believe that it was a case of mistaken identity or that she was caught in a crossfire between two criminals. They are carrying out a manhunt for the perpetrator.

Emergency responders quickly arrived at the scene and administered emergency medical aid and evacuated Peretz to Wolfson Hospital in Holon in a mobile intensive care unit. She was later transferred to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and is sedated and ventilated in the neurosurgical ICU.

In an interview with Channel 12 News on Tuesday morning, her family members asked that the public daven for her: “Her condition is serious, there hasn’t been any change. Please daven.”

Peretz’s husband Oren said: “My wife never hurt anyone in her life. She’s devoted to her family and her work. She’s a religious woman and her emunah saved her life. Gunfire at point-blank range is shooting to kill. Who can do such a thing?”

Peretz, who became closer to Yiddishkeit in recent years, got married to Oren only four months ago. They live in Rishon L’Tzion and Peretz was on the way to visit her mother-in-law together with her daughter when she was shot.

Ichilov provided an update on her condition on Tuesday: “She has a serious head injury but it’s not yet clear how much damage was done,” Prof. Racheli Grossman said. “There’s also good news. When we lowered the anesthesia, it seemed like she was moving her arms and legs, which is neurologically significant. She seems to be communicating, we tried giving her simple instructions and she understood them.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)