Chaim, Yaakov

Yaakov, son of Regina and Elias, was born on 21.12.1953 in Rehovot. He completed his studies at the Ben-Zvi elementary school in Kiryat Ekron, where his family lived. Yaakov, who was known by all as Kobi, was the youngest son in an extended family with many souls. He knew and understood the difficulties of the family and after graduating went to work as a laborer and gave his salary to his parents to help support the family. Kobi was an energetic and verbose boy. He did not like school and the atmosphere of the school, preferring to stand on his own, to work and see the fruits of his hard work. He hated idleness and devoted the years of his youth to enlisting in the IDF in order to work and help the family’s agriculture and to have pocket money for himself, and he chose his way with the knowledge that this was the best way for him. He liked to watch movies, he loved to dance, and he had a lot of fun in clubs. Yaakov was drafted into the IDF in mid-February 1972 and volunteered for the infantry brigade of the Golani Brigade. Even before he heard much about the heroic deeds of the brigade’s fighters, he knew that he would choose to serve in this unit, even though he had heard about the hard training and the great operational activity of this brigade. He proved to be an excellent soldier, easily overcome the obstacles, encouraged his friends during the difficult hours of training and operational activity, and always knew how to keep his cool and behave with restraint and peace of mind even in the most difficult situations. He carried out with precision and completeness all the tasks assigned to him and was accepted by his comrades and commanders in the First Boker Battalion. In the Yom Kippur War, his unit participated with all the fighters of the Golani Brigade, in the battles of containment and the breakthrough against the Syrians in the Golan Heights. On October 21, 1973, his company participated in the battle to conquer the Hermon post, which was held by the Syrians. It was a bitter battle, in which the Golani soldiers tried to overcome the intense fire that had been inflicted on them, as well as on the steep rocks and cliffs that they had to climb on their way to the destination. In this battle Yaakov was wounded and killed. He was laid to rest in the cemetery in Rehovot. Survived by his parents, three brothers and four sisters. After his fall, he was promoted to corporal.