Meidan Israel

Lt. Col. Meidan Israel, 35, head of supply in the Southern Command, from Yarhiv, was killed on October 25 in a military-related car accident.

Israel is survived by his parents, Corinne and Zohar, his brother Yotam, his wife Moran, and his children, Liav, Aline, and Lihi.

He was buried on October 27 in the Kfar Saba military cemetery.

Israel was raised in Mazkeret Bayta and moved to Yarhiv after marrying Moran.

According to Army Radio, Israel was a dedicated IDF officer in every sense, but “never missed an opportunity to build Legos with his children.”

“I salute you, my dear, perfect son who fell in the line of duty in the war effort,” Israel’s father Zohar said at his funeral, according to Ynet. “I have lost the one dearest to me, my heart is torn.”

May Barko, who served under Israel in the IDF, also spoke at his funeral, according to a local news outlet: “We are lucky and privileged that Meidan was [our commander],” Barko said. “He pushed us to be better… in all aspects. I still refuse to believe it, my heart is broken. Thank you for everything you have been for us.”

“You dedicated your life to the army,” his wife Moran said at his funeral, according to Ynet. “You have left a huge hole in my heart, you will always be my beloved.”

“He made sure the soldiers had everything,” she said. Moran added that Israel worked unimaginably hard when the war broke out. “He didn’t sleep and didn’t eat, and decided to come home for a few hours to rest his head because he couldn’t do so on base. Three minutes after he got behind the wheel he was killed in an accident.”

Even his daughter, who is in the 1st grade, knew how important her father’s work was to him. When IDF commanders came to his shiva, Moran explained, his daughter “asked them to show her that the soldiers have everything. That even now, when her father is not here, they lack nothing.”

“You left without saying goodbye,” said Moran, addressing her late husband. “You left me with three wonderful children who love you so much and who will miss you forever. Sweet Liavi every day asks, ‘Mom, will Dad come home today?’ and I tell him, ‘No, I don’t think so, Liavi.'”
Source: The Times of Israel