Yaacov Elian

Lieutenant Yaacov Elian, z"l, 20, from Ramat Gan, served in the Givati brigade and was killed in action in northern Gaza. Tomer Shofer, the principal of the Amit Bar Ilan Technological School where Yaacov studied, eulogized him: "His enormous heart and characteristic affability connected him and his friends and made him a student beloved to his teachers. He studied computers, readied himself for combat service, and was a continual volunteer with the police." "With his enlistment, he joined the Givati Brigade. Yaacov was raised in a house with values of Zionism and love for the State, and he wanted to contribute as much as he could, and so decided to enter an officers course. From the course, he went out to a battle from which he did not return. We mourn his departure and embrace his parents, his sister, and all those who loved him, and our condolences on their enormous loss and the life cut off prematurely."