U.S. teen critical after Tel Aviv blast

JERUSALEM --A 16-year-old American tourist is fighting for his life a week after a Tel Aviv suicide bombing, and thousands are praying for him after an Internet appeal.

Daniel Wultz came to Israel with his parents, Tuly and Sheryl, to visit relatives on Passover. They live in Weston, Fla., north of Miami.

On April 17, father and son were eating lunch in Tel Aviv when a Palestinian suicide bomber ignited 10 pounds of explosives at the entrance to the restaurant. The bomb killed six Israelis, two Romanians, a French tourist and the bomber. Dozens of people were wounded.

Critically wounded, Daniel was taken to Ichilov Hospital. Doctors removed his spleen and a kidney and treated a serious leg wound. His condition remains critical, hospital officials said.

His father suffered less severe injuries but remains hospitalized.

The Wultzes, who have declined to speak to the media, asked their friends and congregation to pray for their son. On Monday, the David Posnack Hebrew Day School in Plantation, Fla., where Daniel has been a student since elementary school, held a prayer service for him.

Rachel Keller, director of Judaic studies at the school, said, "Daniel is a most remarkable young man. He is a person of great moral convictions and has been a wonderful asset to our school."

In addition to praying for Daniel, the Chabad Lubavitch of Weston has set up a fund in his name.

The family's request for prayers also went out over the Internet, where it reached Naomi Ragen, whose best-selling novels include "The Covenant," a tale of Israelis whose lives are changed by terrorism.

"I got an e-mail from a woman in Dearborn, Mich.," Ragen said, "who forwarded to me a letter she had received from a friend of hers. The message gave Daniel's name and his age and asked that people pray for him."

Ragen, who lives in Jerusalem, forwarded the letter to the thousands of readers on her e-mail contact list.

Ragen said she felt a bond with the Wultz family. She was caught in a terror attack with her family in 2002 -- the bombing of a hotel in the coastal city of Netanya. That suicide bombing, at the start of Passover, killed 29 Israelis.

"I was there with my two sons and my daughter-in-law," Ragen said, "There's a special type of horror when you're involved in a terror attack with your child. My heart goes out to these people."

Ragen said she has received hundreds of messages from people eager to help Daniel "from every corner of the world," including Jewish and Christian groups from the United States, Australia and Africa.

The U.S. Embassy condemned the attack. Spokesman Stewart Tuttle said Monday, "Our sympathies go out to all of those injured, to their families, and to the Israeli people. We call upon the Hamas government to take responsibility."

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Hamas officials defended it.

According to the U.S. Embassy, more than 200 American citizens have been killed or wounded in terrorist attacks in Israel since 1992.