Lieutenant Yiftach Yabets, 23, from Ramat Hasharon, an officer in the Magellan unit of the commando brigade, fell at the beginning of the war in an attack on terrorists who infiltrated the Nahal Oz community near the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, the family received the bitter news.
Following the family's calls: Hundreds came to the funeral of lone soldier Nathaniel Young z"l // Photo: Yoni Rikner
In his youth, Yiftach was an outstanding tennis player and came third in the Israeli Championship. He fell on his father's birthday. Before his death, he still managed to write a letter to his father Gilad in honor of his birthday. He wrote the letter on paper, as was customary before the smartphone era: "Abush, 53 is happy and looks like 35. But still 53. Which means I'm 23 too. Abush, you are my hero. When I get confused, when I wonder, when I grope my steps, when I ask, you're always there."
"I'm already 23 and you're 53. It's not a short common path. Sometimes I can identify your footprints on this path, rooted deep in the ground and marking the path of my progress. I wish you to remain the person you are. The fighter, the moral, the sensitive and the professional. But above all, let you remain the father you are."
destruction in the village of Gaza following the terrorist attack,
At the end of the letter he wrote to his father: "I love you very much, and very, very much. Glad you were born. Will open." Father Gilad is the founder and CEO of the high-tech company Enlight.
Yoni, Yiftah's cousin, said of him: "When people say 'the best of our sons,' that's what they mean. At my wedding, he was the first to lift me on my shoulders. There is nothing better than our opening, there simply isn't. Sensitive, smart, nice and soft. When he was in the room, he always conveyed calm, peace and just goodness. Pure goodness that you don't see today."
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