The funeral of Capt. Ariel Reich, one of the 15 fighters who fell in the Gaza Strip in the past <> hours, was held today (Wednesday) at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl. After his death, he was promoted from lieutenant to captain.
'You were my pride': Father of Lieutenant Ariel Reich who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip painfully endorses him
During the battle in the northern Gaza Strip, the armored personnel carrier he and his team were on was hit by an anti-tank missile fired at it. Reich was 24 years old when he died, from Jerusalem. He was in the midst of a commander course, and returned at the beginning of the fighting to assist the 77th Armored Corps Battalion, where he was deputy company commander. Ariel grew up in the Beit HaKerem neighborhood and was a graduate of Himmelfarb High School and Ma'ale Gilboa Yeshiva. Eight years ago, his mother died after a battle with cancer.
About a month before the war began, Ariel proposed marriage to Noa, his partner, and the two even managed to hold an engagement party and celebrate with the families. His father eulogized him in a choked voice: "You grew up gloriously and you were proud of me. The army was your second home, you loved it and found your future path there for the next four years."
"A year ago you found your beloved Noa, and a month ago you got engaged and arranged to get married in five months. Now everything is going to change when you're not with us. Now that you're up there, your mission is to be with Mom, and look after us. My hero, we will always remember you and love you. Daddy."
IDF soldiers near the Gaza Strip,
His cousin also eulogized him: "My cousin, beloved of my heart, was killed yesterday in Gaza. We are broken, unable to believe. Just a month ago we danced at your and Noa's engagement party. My heart is broken to pieces."
Dozens of members of the Ramat Beit HaKerem neighborhood accompanied Ariel on his final journey along the roadside, to Mount Herzl, holding Israeli flags and paying their last respects, after the family asked the public to come and support her in the funeral procession.
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