Berkovits, Gabriel

Son of Rachel and Yechiel. Was born in Russia at the end of the 19th century and immigrated to Israel at the beginning of the 20th century with his mother and four older brothers. During the First World War, he volunteered in the Land of Israel for the Jewish Legion of Palestine – the 40th Battalion of the King’s Rifles, which was organized within the framework of the British Army. The aim was to participate in the liberation of the Land of Israel from the Turks. The battalion continued to serve in Palestine even after the end of the war. Gabriel was murdered on 9 February 1919 when he rode his horse in the framework of his position in the battalion, on the way to Haifa, in an ambush of Arabs and was laid to rest in the old Jewish cemetery in Haifa.