Joseph Gitarts

Sgt. First Class (res.) Joseph Gitarts, 25, a Russian-Israeli from Tel Aviv, was killed on December 25 while battling Hamas in southern Gaza.

He was buried on December 27 in the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv. He is survived by his parents, Larissa and Ya’akov, and four half-siblings from his parents’ previous marriages.

Gitarts was killed after an anti-tank missile hit the tank he was driving in south Gaza. He died on the scene, and the three other soldiers who were with him in the tank were unharmed. He was slated to be released from IDF reserve duty just five days later, on December 30, to continue his studies at the Reichman University in Herzliya since the delayed academic year was finally to begin.

Joseph and his parents immigrated to Israel from Russia when he was 12, and he attended the International American School in Tel Aviv. He was first drafted to the army for non-combat duty, but insisted on becoming a combat soldier in the Armored Corps. After finishing his active duty in 2021, he started his BA studies in the Computer Sciences faculty at Reichman, where he was an honors student and a class representative. He was interested in biotechnology: “My mission is to contribute to the fight against aging and disease through technology,” he wrote on Linkedin.

Called up for reserve duty on October 8, Gitarts spent about six weeks on a training base. Speaking with his mom on the phone from the base, he said: “It’s the first time in my life that I feel that I am part of something bigger than me. You can’t imagine the atmosphere here… There are all kinds of people, with different views, but we sing together all the time, and there is a feeling of love and unity.”

When the soldiers were informed that their battalion would soon enter Gaza to battle Hamas in the south, Gitarts wrote a letter to his parents to be delivered to them in case he did not return alive. He sent half of the link to the Google doc to his girlfriend in Russia and the second half of the link to his brother in Israel, instructing both to send the information they had to his mother in case he died.

“Dear Mom and Dad,” he wrote in Russian, “I love you very much. Everything is as it is supposed to be. I have chosen this. I had a good and interesting life. And yet, I was never afraid of death. I could have skipped reserve duty and hid. But this would contradict everything I believe in and appreciate, and who I consider myself to be. So I didn’t really have a choice, and I would do the same if I could choose again. I came to this decision by myself and stuck with it until the end. I fell proudly for the sake of my people. I have no regrets.

“I love you very much and I am proud that you are my parents. You gave me a lot. I had a very interesting, happy, unique life. My death only highlights it,” he continued. “Undoubtedly, you are in deep pain. But you will manage it. I would like it a lot. It is the main thing that I want. Both of you have many close people who will support you. Please, find something positive in all of this. Spend time with your grandchildren. Help Israel. I am OK.”
Source: The Times of Israel