Ayash (Eilat), Yehuda Udi

Udi, the eldest son of Shoshana and Mordechai, was born on August 26, 1965 in the government hospital in Safed. Udi’s dance talent and his great love for the dance world led to his joining the dance troupe founded by Ofira Navon, the wife of former President Yitzhak Navon, in which he danced and sang. Udi’s ambition to engage in education and work with youth was no surprise to anyone. During his spare time, Udi loved to spend time at sea, and discovered the magic of diving. He did not abandon his love of the stage and dancing, continued to dance in the Eilat Dance Company, participated in the dance festival in Karmiel, and even played in several theater plays that were performed in Eilat. On 17 May 2003, Udi and his family celebrated the bat mitzvah of Lian, his eldest daughter, at a grand party. Before leaving for the last reserve service, Udi was preparing for the school’s end-of-year party, and as if he knew it would be his last activity with the children, he dedicated a special lesson and bought everyone ice cream. A week after Lian’s Bat Mitzvah celebration, on May 26, 2003, Udi was drafted into reserve duty and was sent with his friends to operational employment at the Erez checkpoint at the entrance to the Gaza Strip. During the reserve he felt ill. He went to the doctor, received treatment and was given sick days, but Udi felt a deep commitment to his friends, gave up his sick leave and decided to return to them. This decision made his fate felt. Udi was killed in a battle in the Gaza Strip on 8 Sivan, June 8, 2003. At around 5:30 am, under the auspices of the workers waiting for inspection in the Erez entrance hall to cross into Israel, three terrorists wearing IDF uniforms passed through. At one point, the terrorists withdrew from the queue, climbed the industrial zone wall, turned towards the outpost – “Magen 12” – adjacent to the checkpoint, and opened fire at the soldiers. Udi was thirty-eight in his fall. He was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Eilat. Survived by a daughter and son, parents, two sisters and two brothers. For full memorial, see Hebrew biography.