Son of Tamar and Binyamin. Born in Nahariya on March 27, 1980. He was the eldest brother of Yael and Naomi, who was a beautiful baby, cute and quiet and sleepy, and his mother took care of him at home – as is the practice in Germany – until he was three and a half years old And only then did he begin his first steps in the kindergarten Ronen was a smiling child, very rare to cry, he did not like the first garden, and even when he moved to another kindergarten he always waited to return home to his favorite hobby – construction in the electronic lago that contained all the possible refinements. And his grandmother made sure to send him the most beautiful and new lego pieces from Germany, and Ronen kept the buildings he built and forbade his parents to dismantle them even to clean the house. He was deterred by swimming, apparently because when he was small and entered the sea with his mother, a great wave washed over them, and he did not really like animals, especially dogs, until the family adopted a dog and Ronen got used to it and learned to love him. When he was young, Yael tried to interrupt him and turn the games over to him, but all this did not diminish his love for her. But especially Ronen liked to play with young Naomi and share her games. Since 1986, Ronen has studied at the Weizman Elementary School in Nahariya and was a quiet, outstanding and beloved student. He avoided confrontations with other students, created friendships, and evidently had leadership and leadership qualities. At the age of thirteen, he moved to junior high school in the “Amal” school in the name of Yitzhak Rabin in Nahariya. From the moment he took part in a computer department in Shfayim and discovered his talent, he learned everything related to the field, including various programming languages. Ronen was a “computer freak” in the Amal high school yearbook: “One of the only people in the class who really understands something about computers and scores high marks.” Ronen knew how to help friends, to give of himself with all his heart, and to appease between rivals. To his friend Mori, Ronen told how much he loves his parents and appreciates them for their efforts to support their children even if it involves working until late hours, the main thing is that children will not lack anything. “We are friends, just like brothers, for half a year, sweet and full of love.” We were together, we shared hours and hours of experiences. A loving, warm and sweet partner, you always accompanied me optimistically, with a raised look, full of happiness, smile and laughter, a child of a lot of nonsense. Your conversations about Mom and Dad, Naomi and Yael … I did not even know how it all ended, but we were always able to sit and talk comfortably, with a smile and laughter about our love and shared experiences. And you are not here anymore, / Have trouble waking up to this terrible reality, / Hating the dream that you are not here … / Do not be angry, I know that only with love permission will they enter you, / Your slippers are waiting for your skinny legs … / Books about dragons, love for karate, computers … / Your smell is still here in the room, clinging to the walls, to the bed to everything … / hurts you with my body and soul and breaks from the ugliest of life – Death! / I love you, always love and remember the smile that did not come down from your face – I will miss a lot. “His main hobby was computers, and he also applied it to electronic music, mostly with the help of a computer, and Ronen was also a member of a band that played at private parties.B. Reading fiction in Hebrew. Until the recruitment date, he traveled throughout the country, because he enjoyed nature very much, and spent time at home in front of the computer writing music and music. On July 27, 1998, Ronen enlisted in the Engineering Corps, and on 10 November 1999 he completed a course for NCOs at the Uvda Cliffs, where he was posted as a noncom in the Lahav Battalion. As he progressed to the position of sergeant, he performed his duties in the best possible way and without any fault. He was an exemplary soldier and a commander who led his subordinates with the quietness and cleverness that characterized him. Helped other soldiers, and even supported one of his friends when he encouraged him to complete his adulthood until he succeeded. Ronen volunteered for every mission, showing confidence to those around him and showing great motivation, as appropriate to a veteran and experienced soldier. “Ronen was very happy and pleased with his service,” said his father Benjamin, adding, “We never told his mother that he was serving in southern Lebanon, and he thought he was serving at the headquarters in Mount Hermon.” A few hours before the fatal accident that led to his death, Ronen spoke with his father on the phone from the bunker at the post and told him: “Everything is fine, there’s nothing to worry about, I’m deep in the ground. After midnight on January 17 and 18, a force of Southern Command engineers and a infantryman left the Zarit outpost to comb the area and rescue a tank and armored personnel carrier that sank in the mud near the Karkom post in the security zone. Ronen and the D9 bulldozer, protected by steel plates, led the force along the perimeter axis near the Lebanese border. Ronen was the commander of the vehicle and was in charge of the direction of the bulldozer in the dark with a night vision device. His upper body was out of the cab. Before they reached the border fence, the driver suddenly veered off the road, the bulldozer turned on its side and Ronen was crushed under the heavy engineering tool. The soldiers rushed to call for help, but Ronen was killed. Sergeant Ronen Ben-Arieh fell in operational activity on the 18th of Shevat 5701 (18.1.2000) and was buried in the military cemetery in Nahariya. He was twenty years old when he fell. He left parents and two sisters. Ronen was promoted to the rank of First Sergeant after his death. The commander of the battalion, Lieutenant-General Yishai, said to him: “You were one of the most prominent motives, a commander, always leading the way, and the sky, like your friends, is bleeding today and shedding a tear.” Twenty years after the Nahariya municipality planted a tree in the Ben Shemen Forest, a soft olive plant was planted in his memory.
