Elazar Nachalon

Elazar, son of Shulamit and Aaron, was born on the thirteenth day of Tammuz, 17.7.1951, in Sde Eliyahu. He attended the joint school of religious kibbutz farms in Sde Eliyahu. Elazar, was a member of the family of veterans of the pioneering religious settlement in the Beit Shean Valley. In his youth, Elazar was a member of the Bnei Akiva youth movement and was mainly active in sports. He was a member of the lightweight athletics team and participated in regional and national competitions. He was also a member of the Sde Eliyahu basketball team and the “Elizur” sports organization. In the youth movement he instructed youth camps and walks. From an early age he had a dual tendency – both for technical professions and for nature and the landscape of the country. He was very sensitive to flora and fauna, and his father told him that he could enjoy a long time watching the bird, the bee or the flowers. There was a deep emotional closeness between him and his parents, brothers and sisters. He also loved his friends and they loved him. He was a tall man, good-natured, humble and humble. As a member of a religious family in a religious economy, he was adhering to the commandments, faithful to the religion of Israel and its teachings and national, Jewish and Israeli values.

Elazar was drafted into the IDF in early December 1969. He first served in Nahal, graduated with a MHF course and was a squad commander. However, after serving about a year in Nahal, he volunteered for a pilot course. In the Air Force, a new era began in Elazar’s life – a life of a religious young man on the course, one of the hardest and longest in the IDF, followed by a religious pilot’s life in an operational squadron, which reached the rank of lieutenant. At home, about the problems that were plagued by a pilot course, but from his friends, the parents heard that they had problems because there were only very few religious guys in this course, and Elazar succeeded in overcoming all difficulties due to Noam’s conduct, good temperament, technical skills and strong faith. The course and became a pilot in the Air Force, this is how Elazar’s dream come true, he has since dreamed with his own eyes from his home in the field Eliyahu aired Air Force operations during the War of attrition, on the eastern side of the Jordan. On the eve of Yom Kippur, Elazar was at his house and had more to build a sukkah with his father. On Yom Kippur, he rushed to his squadron and went on operational flights on the Golan Heights and the Sinai Front. On the 16th of Tishrei 5773 (12.10.1973), Elazar was hit and killed by an anti-aircraft missile on his plane. He was taken to rest in the cemetery in Sde Eliyahu. He was survived by his parents, a brother and three sisters.

Comments on Elazar’s image were published in various publications by Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu and the religious kibbutz.