Benvenisti, Yaakov

Son of Esther and Samuel, was born in 1909 in the city of Salonika, Greece and was an idealist and an ardent Zionist, and it was only natural for him to immigrate to Eretz Israel as a young man of 22. He settled in Bat Yam and was one of the founders of the Shamnon Factory, and a manager of the factory for many years Yaakov married Ida, his country, and the couple had a son and two daughters, and Yaakov volunteered for the Haganah and was active in the Maccabees and in guarding his city. Yaakov was admired by the members of the small community of Bat Yam, and everyone respected him as a devoted family man and a faithful worker. On the 18th of Shevat 5708 (January 18, 1948) Yaakov was about to fulfill his role in guarding the position – he was hit in the head by a sniper’s bullet fired from the direction of Arab Manshiyeh. In critical condition he was taken to Hadassah Hospital, but the doctors’ efforts to save him failed and he died of his wounds. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery at Nahalat Yitzhak. He left a wife and three small children.