15 Soldiers Killed

From Haaretz

Captain Gilad Shtukelman, 26, from Tamrat
Gilad Shtukelman was informed that he had gotten an immediate call-up notice while in New York. In recent years, he was employed as a flight attendant for El Al, and received word of the call-up while abroad.

"Gilad made sure that El Al put him on a flight two days early, so that he could return to Israel as quickly as possible to report for reserve duty," Tamrat resident Orit Messer-Harel said. "He loved life and loved music. He was a generous boy," she said.

Gilad was a graduate of the high school in Nahalal and served in the armored corps. After completing his military service, he traveled in South America. When he returned to Israel, he began work as a flight attendant with El Al. Next year, he planned to study economics and East Asian studies.

When he reported for reserve duty, his mother Rachel tried to help soldiers in his battalion. She and neighbors from Tamrat prepared food packages, which they sent to soldiers on the Lebanese border.

Staff Sergeant Benny (Benjamin) Sela, 24, from Koranit
Benny Sela completed his military service in the paratroopers two years ago, and was killed during his first call up to reserve duty. Last Monday he visited his family for one day, which was the last time they saw him.

"I had a feeling that was our last meeting. I knew what his role in the military was. It was obvious that he was going into Lebanon. Beforehand, he told me that they lacked military equipment and that they gathered money and drove to Tel Aviv to buy supplies for their friends. I asked him, 'Ben, what about a bullet proof vest. I'm going to buy you a bullet proof vest now.' I called a company that manufactures the vests, but he said to me, 'Mom, I don't want. I'll be like the rest of my friends and I'll be fine.' I feel like during this war, the ground troops are being led like sheep to the slaughter. It was obvious to me that this would happen," his mother, Yehudit, said.

Sela's grandmother, Sara, said Benny was named after her father. "It's hard to think about this beautiful boy with a heart of gold, who was so similar to his grandfather and who was willing to give of himself to everyone," she said.

His father, Yosef, said that he picked his son up from his unit on Monday for a short break. "He traveled the world and visited places that I'll never reach. He walked everywhere and rode horses. At every place, he made friends. He began a tour guiding course abroad, along with a close friend," he said.

Sela was laid to rest at 8 P.M. Thursday at the Misgav cemetery.

Staff Sergeant Igor Koblik, 26, from Upper Nazareth
Igor Koblik, who reported for reserve duty last week, studied computer science.

A friend of the family said that since Koblik reported for reserve duty, his father Lev had been very worried.

The Koblik family immigrated from Belarus in the early 1990's and settled in Upper Nazareth. Neighbors said Koblik was very close to his grandmother, who also lived in the town.

"Igor was a guy with a heart of gold," Ya'akov Schneider, a neighbor, said. "He was very close to his parents and sister. A few months ago, I asked him to help me put up a fence, and he did."

Koblik is survived by his parents, Tatiana and Lev, and his 18-year-old sister Yulia.

Koblik was laid to rest at 5 P.M. at the Upper Nazareth cemetery.

Staff Sergeant Nir Cohen, 22, from Maccabim
Last week, Cohengot an emergency call-up for reserve duty. He had served as a medic in the armored corps, and his friends said he was happy to report for reserve duty. Cohen asked his commander to return to the role of tank driver, which he held during his regular army service, rather than serve as a medic.

After he completed his military service, Cohen was employed as a tour guide and youth counselor with the Jewish Agency, and worked with American Jews on tours in Israel. His sister said he loved to travel in Israel, and noted that he was an excellent musician and loved to play the piano.

Cohen had been in touch with his family and friends in recent days, and after every fierce battle in Lebanon, he called to assure them that he was fine.

He asked that his friend Nofar take care of his worried parents. During their last phone conversation, he said to her, "You have to say goodbye to me, because I might not come back."

"I said to him, 'why do you have to think bad thoughts,'" Nofar related.

Cohen is survived by his parents, Giora and Nava, his sister Noa and brother Eyal. He will be laid to rest on Friday.

Sergeant Major David Shemidov, 25, from Jerusalem
David Shemidov returned Sunday from a week-long vacation in Prague with his girlfriend of three years. One hour after he landed in Israel, he received his emergency call-up notice. His frinds and family last heard from him on Tuesday, when he sent his girlfriend a text message saying, "I love you."

Shemidov's trip to Prague was his first voyage overseas since immigrating to Israel from Belarus in 1991. It was supposed to be a celebration, as he was recently accepted to architecture studies at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem.

"His dream was to be an architect," his friend, Yvgeny Mindlin, said. "David talked about building the third temple. He wasn't a religious man, but he strongly believed in God."

Shemidov served in Givati and was determined to serve in a combat unit shortly after immigrating to Israel.

"He wanted to serve his country," Yulia Kaplan, a friend from high school, said. "In twelfth grade he practiced with his brother, to built up his stamina." His friends described Shemidov as a born leader who was constantly smiling and had a great sense of humor. His brother, Ya'akov, 27, was serving in Lebanon when his family received word on David's death.

Shemidov is survived by his parents, Leonid and Natalya, and brother Ya'akov.

Captain Yoni-Leon Shmucher, 30, from Beit Nehemia
Yoni served as an officer in the paratroopers' engineer company. He was issued an emergency call-up notice last week.

Originally from Mazkeret Batia, Shmucher moved to Moshav Beit Nehemia after he got married. He was on the verge of completing his graduate degree in physics.

"Yoni was good at everything. He studied physics and was also an athlete. He rode his bike on Saturdays; we could never keep up with him," a friend said, and described an extraordinary love between Yoni and his wife, Shlomit.

First Staff Sergeant Asher Reuven Novick, 36, from Kanaf
Ashi (Asher) Novick, from Moshav Kanaf in the Golan Heights, celebrated his 36th birthday last week. He received an emergency call-up notice two weeks ago.

Novick, originally from Nes Ziona, resided in Kanaf for the past seven years with his wife, Osnat, in a house they built together. They had two children - Yuval, 10, and Itai, 6.

Novick recently completed a business degree, and was appointed chairman of the Luna Gal water park.

"Within a short while, Ashi was one of the pillars of the moshav," Haim Ohayon, the chairman of the Luna Gal board of directors, also a resident of Kanaf, said of Novick.

Novick will be laid to rest on Sunday at the Moshav Gamle cemetery.

Captain Nathan Yahav, 36, from Tel Aviv
Natan Yahav's wife, Sharon, was informed of her husband's death at close to 1 A.M. Wednesday by Israel Defense Forces representatives. The news reached his parents in Tel Aviv at 2:30 A.M. and they passed it on to his two sisters, Hagit and Neta.

Yahav was called up as a company commander of a paratrooper's commando unit that entered the village of Debel in south Lebanon. Yahav had been married for six years, and is survived by his wife and their two children, aged five and two and a half.

Staff Sergeant Adi Salim, 22, from Hashmonai
Adi Salim, a combat medic, was discharged from the army about six months ago and began working at Israel Aircraft Industries. He had planned to start college next year.

Salim was laid to rest at 7 P.M. Thursday in Ramle.

Sergeant Major Gilad Sussman, 27, from Eli
Gilad Sussman, the third Eli resident to be killed in the current conflict in Lebanon, moved to the West Bank settlement with his wife a few years ago. Seven months ago, their first son was born.

Sussman worked as an El Al security guard, and a neighbor described him as a modest man who smiled easily and often. The news of his death began circulating among Eli residents Wednesday night while many were attending the wedding of fellow Eli resident Emuna Merhavia whose brother, Amihai, had been killed in Lebanon just two weeks earlier.

Sergeant Major Noam Goldman, 27, from Tel Aviv
Goldman was laid to rest at 5 P.M. Thursday at the Kfar Sava cemetery.

Staff Sergeant Elad Dan, 25, from Kibbutz Eilot