Ben-Haim, Yosef

Yosef, son of Perach and Kaduri, was born on 25 April 1952 in Rehovot and attended elementary school and high school in Kibbutz Manara in the Upper Galilee, where he first grew up in the Beit Elazar labor camp and later in Kiryat Ono. At the age of four he lost his mother, who drowned in front of his eyes on a Tel Aviv beach, and was 23 years old, Yosef Toltal from house to house, and he carried a quiet and restrained place in Kibbutz Manara, where he was adopted by one of the families. He was a boy with a sense of humor, accepted and loved by his friends, loved nature and traveled extensively throughout the country, and loved classical music. Joseph was drafted into the IDF in early February 1971 and despite being the only child of his widowed father, he decided to volunteer for a combat unit. He was assigned to the Armored Corps and after completing basic training he completed many courses. During his service, he served as a staff member in a “Centurion” tank and an operations sergeant, and attained the rank of First Sergeant. In the Yom Kippur War, Yosef was a tank commander in a tank battalion in the Golan Heights. On October 6, 1973, he was hit and killed when an anti-tank missile struck his tank near Tel a-Saki, and was brought to rest in the Kiryat Shaul cemetery. Kibbutz Manara, which was his home, published a pamphlet in his memory, which included his father, his relatives and friends about his character.