Berkovits, Israel

Son of Leah and Hanoch, was born on November 26, 1928, in the Montefiore neighborhood, which was then near Tel Aviv. Israel attended the Ahad Ha’am Municipal School and Geula School. He was a quiet, modest, diligent student who excelled in his studies. His friends loved him for his honesty and his willingness to help her distaste her. When he returned from a long trip to the Negev, the Dead Sea and Masada, he could describe every crater, every mountain, and call every plant his name, and when he was 15 he joined the ranks of the Gadna, Was one of the few students of his high school age who joined the Palmach after completing their studies. Upon his conscription, he was sent to Kfar Ruppin, where he spent a year and a half, and then went on a course in Delia. When he was 19, he was promoted to the rank of platoon commander. He spent most of his days in the Palmach dedicated to training, touring and guarding the water pipeline in the Negev. In those days, he saw all the difficulties of surviving isolated Jewish settlements in the Negev, among the many Bedouin tribes, but he confidently predicted the establishment of a future state. “On December 30, 1947, he was sent along with four of his friends on a tour of the water line between Tkuma and Tze’elim, where he fell. On the 28th of Sivan 5713 (28.5.1953) he was put to rest at the Nachlat Yitzhak military cemetery.