Itai Yehuda

Sergeant Itai Yehuda (21) from Rishon Lezion, is one of the ten Givati fighters who were killed by an anti-tank missile in battle in the Gaza Strip. Shortly after he was laid to rest, his family received the letter he carried on his body. Although the words are blurred and the pages are burned, you can read the last words of Sergeant Yehuda who made it clear that even if he pays with his life - he does not regret the decision to join the army and fight for his country.
His friends and family were not surprised by these words, the sociable boy, with the soul of an artist and the joy of life, always showed courage, from the first day he came into the world. "Itai came into the world early and left it prematurely," says his mother Rinat in an interview this week with "Mynet Rishon". "On my 32nd birthday, I was only 26 weeks, when contractions and bleeding started I thought it was temporary, I was still planning to go out to celebrate with friends, but Itai had other plans. That day he was born by emergency caesarean section and weighed 960 grams, not even a kilo. There was great concern, the doctors didn't know if he had a chance to live because in such a situation many babies don't survive or are born with defects. But Itai was a fighter from the first moment, after a long hospitalization in Schneider he got stronger and was released as a healthy baby weighing 2 kilos."
Yehuda studied art at the 10th Mikif in Rishon Lezion, brother to Omer (25) and Adi (23), three close-knit brothers whose lives have always been intertwined. "With me, there was a boy who always made everyone laugh, if a friend came over with me, he would immediately let everyone know, we always laugh with each other. He really adored Omer, from a young age he did everything his older brother did. If Omer just bought a new shirt right away with me, he would want the same, he dreamed of being like him. When Omer enlisted in Givati, it also became Itay's dream, to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, and indeed at his beret ceremony, Omer handed him the purple beret.
"Obviously, there were always arguments, but my children are very connected to each other, even their friends are mutual friends. Itai was a very creative child, he was an amazing painter, just recently he drew a cheerful grandmother, my mother, who loved her very much, every time he came home he made sure to visit her and grandmother Leah, he was very connected and connected to his grandmothers. He had an amazing talent, he dreamed of being a tattooist and tattooing his creations on people. The tattooist Eliav Ozan came to Itai's shiva to see his creations."