Arazi, Sagi

Ben Fela and Moshe. He was born on 21.5.1974 in Kfar Yona, the eldest son of his family. Sagi, like his name, was tall and strong, a handsome boy and a mirror. He was always full of joy, always smiling. He was the glory of the family. He started his way in kindergarten and continued at the Bar Ilan elementary school, both in Kfar Yona. To continue his studies he moved to the “Shapira” religious high school in Netanya. In his youth, Sagi was a member of the Bnei Akiva movement, and later he was a member of the movement. He liked going on trips and trips with the counselors and apprentices, and even when he was already a soldier he tried to join the activities of the apprentices, as a companion and as an assistant to the counselors. In his spare time, Sagi loved playing soccer and basketball, and on Saturdays he played dominoes with his grandmother (his mother’s mother). Sagi loved all his family, including his extended family. Everyone paid proper attention, and was known for his special approach to the children among them. In July 1992, Sagi enlisted in the IDF, completing his basic training in the field of mechanical engineering, and in the beginning of May 1993 Sagi continued his service in the IDF. He was stationed in the Ordnance Corps and was sent to a tank mechanics course. At the end of the course, a volume workshop was attached to the Golan Heights. In mid-April 1996, he began serving in the regular army in the battalion in the Golan Heights. He was appointed commander of a technical squad, and was highly regarded by his commanders for his work. The soldiers who were his subordinates say that Sagi did not treat them like a commander but as a friend. He sat with them in their rooms, making coffee or tea and spending their free time with them. When he remained at the base on Saturdays, everyone knew that they had to “get up” to pray in order to complete a minyan for Saguy. On the evening of 28 February 1997, the helicopter disaster occurred when two Yasur helicopters collided over Moshav Shear Yashuv. The seventy-three fighters, who made their way to operational activity in Lebanon, were killed. Among them was Sagi, who is twenty-three years old. Sagi was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Netanya. Survived by his parents, two brothers – Michael and Joseph and a sister – Rona. After his death he was promoted to the rank of sergeant. His family commemorated Sagi in a memorial corner in his room and inserted a Torah scroll into the synagogue where he used to pray. The Shapira school, where Sagi studied, took out a prayer book in his memory, and the Bar-Ilan school in Kfar Yona published a book of Psalms in his memory. In a modest pamphlet published by the Shapira School in cooperation with the family in memory of Sagi, poems and letters written by his family and friends from the period of studies and military service were published. Commander of the brigade where he served, wrote to the family in a letter of condolence: “Sagi served in my unit as a tank mechanic and performed his duty with the dedication and professional excellence that always characterized him.”