Ilan son of Ayala and Avraham was born on September 22, 1949, in Tel Aviv. He studied at the Gordon Elementary School and completed his post-primary studies in a general humanistic track at the Ironi High School in Tel Aviv. Ilan was an intelligent and alert boy, a diligent student and fond of teachers and students. In his parents’ home, he found satisfaction in his curiosity and strong desire to gain knowledge. His father and mother, teachers by profession, raised their eldest son, Eitan, Ilan and Avital their “little” sister, in light of moral and national values, especially in light of the two basic values: love of humanity and love of the Land of Israel. Later, when Ilan grew up, he added to his home learning principles of his own. True friendship and mutual help were especially important to him. As a young man, he joined the United Movement and became one of its most active members. He was known as an event organizer and as an excellent organizer, participated in trips that took place within the framework of the movement, and participated in celebrations and parties. “He opened our house wide open to his many friends,” his father said. “In the spare time, Ilan dealt in sports, swimming in the pool and the sea, playing basketball, participating in marches and touring the homeland with the car and on foot. The world of classical music was close to his heart and he especially preferred the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. His artistic talent is evident in his paintings and woodwork. During high school, he devoted himself to working with suburban youth. In this occupation, he saw a challenge and an exalted duty, and did his work faithfully. His adult view and a serious attitude toward life attest to his estate. When he was a high school student, he wrote a large work on ancient agriculture in the Negev Highlands, which was praised. When one of his classmates fell in the army during his service, Ilan wrote to the girlfriend of the fallen soldier a long letter, a kind of contemplation of the essence of life. He wrote: “He (man) built a world of good and evil, of silence and noise, of hatred and love, and when everything was ready, he began to use the tools he created himself, but one thing did not create for himself. He could not find the word or the essence of things, which are in fact the glue that reinforces desires and aspirations, questions and purposes … In suffering and pain, values will be pillars of the tunnel we have built ourselves … ” Ilan was drafted into the IDF in late October 1967 He began his career in the army as a pilot, but when it became clear to him at the last stage of the course that he could not serve as a combat pilot for health reasons, he refused to serve as a pilot After many efforts, he obtained a release from his Air Force commanders and fought until he was accepted as a combat soldier in the Armored Corps and completed a number of courses, including a tank training course, and an officers’ course. And served as a lieutenant colonel in the battalion of Lt. Col. Assaf Yaguri. “I loved Ilan at first sight,” said Assaf Yaguri. “I adopted Ilan, simply because he was good with me, I trusted him, I believed in his ability, his honesty, his uncompromising honesty … There was something captivating about this young man, i was jealous of his beauty, and his humor.” In the fall of 1971, when Ilan was discharged from the service, he vigorously went to post-secondary studies in an academic framework. He studied for two years at Tel Aviv University: one year in Economics, and one year in the Department of Geography. As a student, he also took part in a course for tour guides conducted by the Ministry of Tourism. He wanted to pass on his love for the land and its landscape to his fellow man. When the Yom Kippur War broke out, Ilan was called to his unit in the Armored Corps. On the afternoon of Yom Kippur quickly and efficiently regained his troops and assumed command of a tank division that operated in the northern region of Sinai. At dawn the next day, he and his soldiers arrived at a Romanian junction and began an operational movement towards the Luzza. On October 7, 1973, Ilan was killed by a burst of light weapons, when he jumped from a half-track to one of the tanks in order to repel an Egyptian commando force that had been entrenched in ambush and was brought to rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat- Shaul, left behind his parents, brother, and sister, and was promoted to the rank of captain. In a letter of condolence to the bereaved family, the commander of the unit wrote: “During the period of reserve duty, I met Ilan as an excellent officer and an exemplary armor man … His strength and achievements in the unit became evident … He was a courageous fighter who carried out his duties, Soul. ” His friends and uncle planted a grove in memory of the late Captain Ilan Amir, in the forest of the Jewish National Fund, near the Nahshon junction in the Jerusalem hills.
