Ben-Natan (Nutkin), Gadi

Gadi, son of Hadassah and Yaakov, was born on 14 October 1941 in Moshav Nahalal. When he was four months old, he moved to Kibbutz Hanita together with his parents, who were among the founders. When he was nine he returned with his family to Nahalal, where he attended elementary school and continued in the agricultural high school. Gadi was a lively, energetic child with curly hair and a snub nose. He loved literature and read books of various kinds, worked in sports and loved to go on trips. He was involved in many sports and especially liked playing football and table tennis. He also loved riding horses, and in his youth he spent hours galloping on horseback. His love for nature and landscape was deep and he never missed a chance to take a trip on foot to get to know the country, including the life of plants and wildlife. From an early age he began to take part in the work of the agriculture, which satisfied him. In all his actions, an uncompromising quality of honesty and honesty was carved out. Gadi was drafted into the IDF at the end of October 1960 and assigned to the Armored Corps and military service he began to fill when he was nineteen, helped to emphasize his talents and abilities, and after completing basic training for the armored corps and tank commanders course, Centurion, “who entered IDF operational service. He was then sent to an officers’ course, at the end of which he was awarded the rank of second lieutenant. Despite many disciplinary problems, which stemmed from the difficulties of adapting to the harsh demands of military life, Gadi was loved by his commanders and subordinates and succeeded in various positions. At the end of his regular service he returned to Nahalal. For a while, he guided youth in young moshavim and later undertook a difficult and purposeful mission – assisting developing countries. He accepted the advice of setting up a farm of the National Service – the local Nahal – in a remote area in Tanzania, Africa, where he served not only as an adviser but also as a worker, a counselor, a professional and a friend of Africans whose language was the Swahili language. A year later, he returned to Israel, married Ruti from Beit She’arim, and together with him returned to another year of service in the same place in Tanzania, and returned to Nahalal with his wife three years later, shortly after the birth of his eldest daughter. Yom Kippur, Gadi participated in the brutal containment battles that our forces waged against the Egyptians in the area of ​​the Firdan Bridge, in the capacity of Deputy Commander of the PFLP And a tank of vats, for which he received a commendation from the brigade commander, during which he was injured when his tank was hit and he was wounded in the eye and taken to the home front. On October 15, 1973, his tank was hit by a missile and he was killed and brought to rest in the Nahalal cemetery, followed by a wife, Daughter of Smadar and son of Avner, who was born after his death, parents and two sisters, Yael and Diti. He was promoted to captain.