When the terrorists detonated IEDs near a tunnel shaft in the Gaza Strip yesterday, five of our best sons were killed in the horrific incident - all reservists, leaving behind a wife and children, families torn by grief and pain.
The news of the death of Maj. (res.) Itai Perry – an adoring husband to his wife Hila and an exemplary father to Ido, Gil and Uri, only seven months old – shattered everyone who knew him. Family and friends tell of a young man who always had a smile on his face and shining eyes, a humble, authentic, purposeful and courageous person.
Itai Perry, who fell in the southern Gaza Strip, photo: None
He grew up and was educated in Reut and Modi'in, where he also established his home with Hila - who as soon as she met knew that they were destined to get married. The two were soon to celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary.
Itai, 36, reported for reserve duty on 7 October and fought in Gaza for the past month. The last time he spoke to his family was a week ago. In one of his last pictures, he was photographed with me holding in his hands a drawing made for him by Ido, his eldest son, with the caption above it: "I love you Daddy, I miss you, hope you don't get hurt."
Instead of a suit – military uniform
"Three weeks ago, Roman called me, told me he had entered Gaza and asked me to look after Natalie and the children," Ben Moravchik recounts the last conversation with his good friend, attorney and Major (res.) Roman Bronstein.
About two weeks before his fall: Maj. (Res.) Roman Bronstein celebrating at his son's bar mitzvah Photo: Courtesy of the family
Two weeks ago, Roman celebrated a bar mitzvah for his son Daniel, the eldest of his three children, at Kibbutz Reim. The two immigrated to the Torah together with their mother Natalie and brothers David and Helen, 11-year-old twins, and with the father's friends in Battalion 8111, who were drafted into the reserves on the first day of the war. Roman refused to postpone the event until after the war, and so he was able to stand by his son - when the festive suit was replaced by the military uniform he wore when he ascended to the Torah.
"I never dreamed of doing such a bar mitzvah," the excited father said at the time in greeting the bar mitzvah groom. "Daniel, there are many other friends who are not here, some on missions or those who have returned missions, and they all send you congratulations. In two years, little David will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah and say that he, too, wants war. Let there be no more wars and let us celebrate the next Bar Mitzvah with an exciting event."
"Volunteered despite everything"
"Gideon didn't have to enlist because he has six children, but he volunteered despite everything and was drafted at the beginning of the war. In the past two weeks, we hardly heard from him, and yesterday, during a family candle lighting, we received the message. We have another brother who serves in Gaza and we had to get him," says Nadav, brother of Maj. (res.) Gideon Ilani, who fell in the Gaza Strip yesterday.
Gideon, 35, grew up in Mitzpe Jericho in the Binyamin region. He studied at the Neve Shmuel Yeshiva High School (its fourth casualty in this war), and continued for another seven years at Yeshiva HaSeder in Yeruham, which has lost six of its graduates so far. During these years he married Esti, after a while the two moved from Yeruham to Sderot, and from there they moved to settle in Asael in the South Hebron Hills.
He is survived by his wife and six children: Maj. Gideon Ilani is laid to rest // Photo: Yoni Rikner
The couple was expecting a seventh child, a brother of six, the oldest of whom was 11 years old and the youngest was a year and a half old. "The kids were very attached to him, always around him. We always saw him with one or two children hanging on him," Nadav says.
Gideon was a doctoral student in astrophysics, and his brother Nadav notes that on the day of his enlistment he had a job interview in one of the leading defense industries. "Gideon was the most organized in the family. My brother loved manual labor, he built all kinds of things at home. A sweet guy, the youngest of his six brothers, a humble, simple guy, always smiling."
His neighbor, Dr. Uri Adler, knew Gideon during their regular service. "We were together in the same squad in the paratroopers battalion. Gideon was a humble and quiet guy, always calm and managed to instill calm in everyone around him. If he did want to express his displeasure, it was simply evident in a penetrating and deep look – but always with calm on his face. Even then, it was evident that he was a smart guy who had a lot to say about the world, but kept his secrets to himself.
"About two years ago I met him by surprise, this time with a wonderful family, he said they were coming to inspect the community. I was excited about it and told them about our quiet and pastoral life. When they settled in Asael, Hashem arranged that we had been neighbors next door for the past two years, and so I got to know him a little more in his personal life as well.
"He grew up to be a man, completed degrees in physics and was already near the end of his doctorate. With all the flow of life and work, he always had a Gemara or Rambam in hand, in case he had a few moments to learn Torah. He always helped when they needed supportive hands, even late at night."
"Conciliatory and compromised"
While his daughter was doing national service in the Jewish community in Miami, USA, and while his eldest son was supposed to enlist in the IDF, the bitter news knocked on the door of the Cohen family in Kfar Saba: The father, Major (res.) Evyatar Cohen, 42, fell in battle yesterday.
Major (res.) Evyatar Cohen z"l, photo: uncredited
Ashi Engelman, his close friend of 26 years, said of "a humble man, doing everything quietly but with endless loyalty. A true friend, one who is always there when you need him. He understood everything he did, possessed tremendous wisdom. At 7:10 A.M., we were in a synagogue and he got a call. His car wasn't home, so he took mine and drove off, and has been in reserve ever since. A mighty man. This is the man to go into battle with."
Evyatar was a mechanical engineer and project manager at Coca-Cola, where he met his friend Ariel Besselman, who eulogized him yesterday: "How can you describe a person like you, an exemplary family man, blessed with talents, straight through, pleasant, always with a smile and your way of compromising and appeasing."
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