Son of Tzipi and Jackie, brother of Yigal and Aviv. He was born on the 3rd of Shvat 5738 (11.1.1978) in Afula, while his parents were in Kibbutz Gvat, as part of a training program for the establishment of a new kibbutz Lotem On 13.8.1988 Nitzan immigrated with his family and the rest of the pioneers to Kibbutz Lotem, Nitzan, who grew up with the kibbutz, was a full partner in the creative and leisure life in the joint framework, and his mother tells of the first years of Lotem: “Not even a bird’s chirp was heard on the deserted hill. At the end of the guard we heard only the voice of the muezzin from the surrounding villages. Nitzan received medical treatment at a clinic in Sakhnin, where we waited among very unhappy Arab residents of his time. He learned his first steps on the goat paths. He collected fossils in countless trips around the kibbutz. We lived in one room, so we found the space outside. “Nitzan used to accompany his father Jacky in all the housework and the kibbutz, and from a young age he learned to deal with what he had, to fix and build. His father, a goat’s herd, was the happiest bud in the children, and immediately discovered a natural approach to caring for animals: Nitzan attended the elementary school in Kibbutz Farod (later Nof Galil school) and was a keen, intelligent and sociable student who excelled in nature lessons. To the Misgav school, where he studied until the end of his high school studies Nitzan showed impatience with the establishment and the establishment was unable to exploit the pot He was able to learn and progress despite everything, and thanks to a number of special teachers who trusted him and supported him, he completed his high school studies in the biological track with an excellent matriculation certificate, and when he was fourteen years old he helped establish the first vacation village in Kibbutz Lotem, During his years of service, he enjoyed full confidence and Nitzan felt at home in the holiday village. Nitzan, a sensitive and dreamy child, spent many hours in the expanses and was attached to animals and cared for. When they brought horses to Lotem, Nitzan enlisted to treat them. Nitzan loved the horses very much. He often appears to be riding in the streams and hills surrounding the kibbutz, running without a saddle, his long hair blowing in the wind, and he is searching the space around him. The music attracted Nitzan, and during the four years he learned to play percussion instruments, the drums were heard loudly throughout the kibbutz. The love of freedom and the sense of adventure accompanied him during his travels on the motorcycle, in which he fell in love when he was older. Nitzan experienced many areas both by virtue of circumstances and because of his personal appetite for all the beauty of life. As a native of the Galilee, he was a partner in improving the relations between the Jewish residents and their Arab neighbors (Bedouins and peasants), a partner in the development of Jewish settlements in the Misgav Council, a full partner in the establishment of the kibbutz. Prior to his induction, Nitzan traveled to France for a family visit and a trip. In November 1996, Nitzan enlisted in the Golani Brigade, to which he wanted to be accepted. He was attracted by the feeling of brotherhood in the unit and he was proud to be a Golanchik. Nitzan was well integrated into the military, showed dedication, responsibility, spirit of volunteerism and helping others. He also knew about the difficulties, and his joy of life radiated to his comrades in the platoon and the company, who loved him very much, and called him Rosh. Nitzan received great appreciation from his commanders, and so he wrote to his parents, Lt. Col. Ilan, commander of the unit: “… your son was an excellent fighter at the spearhead of the first platoon. Nitzan was very popular with his colleagues in the auxiliary company of the battalion in general and in the patrol department in particular. PerfectHis personal and professional qualities guided Nitzan to the best platoon in the regiment, the patrol unit, which only a few reach. Your son was endowed with the youthful charm and responsibility of an adult during his service and led the battalion by virtue of his duties in every action. “On November 25, 1998, Nitzan fell in combat in Lebanon. He was killed when an explosive charge was detonated against an IDF force during an ambush near the Tel-Kabina outpost in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, killing his commander, Lieutenant Uriel Peretz. Nitzan was buried in the cemetery at Kibbutz Lotem, which was established that day, in the Galilean landscape he loved so much. Survived by his parents, brothers, grandmothers, grandparents and friends. A music room was established in memory of Misgav School. In the ‘Nitzan’ room, the piano and drums continue to play. His mother writes: “Nitzan is a child of surprises, a child of joy and light, a child of laughter and beauty, a child of honor and friendship, a sensitive and loving child, a child of freedom and distance, a child of earth and fire.”
