Debiko, Meir

Meir, son of Esther and Armand, was born on July 20, 1947, in Taza, Morocco, and immigrated to Israel as part of the Youth Aliyah in 1964. He began his studies in his hometown in elementary school and later attended high school. After arriving in Israel he studied at the Nitzanim youth village and completed his studies at the youth-Zionist youth farm in Jerusalem. As a boy, Meir was shy and humble, pleasant and kind. He was loved by his family and loved by his friends for his honesty and sincerity. He was educated in the spirit of the Zionist movement, and the aspiration to immigrate to Israel came to him even when he was a student in his hometown of Morocco. Meir was drafted into the IDF in early August 1967 and volunteered for a reconnaissance unit of the infantry and was sent to serve in the command of the Northern Command and took part in a course for squad commanders and a course for reconnaissance officers. He was an excellent commanding officer, familiar with the combat doctrine of the infantry. As a commander he was tough and strict and demanded strict execution of orders. At the same time, he had a warm and understanding heart, took care of his soldiers and served as commander and friend. At the beginning of February 1969, in an operational operation on the northern border, his vehicle was hit by a mine and he was seriously wounded. Because of his injury he could not continue to serve in the commando unit or even take part in an officers’ course, but he refused to move to a rear unit, was transferred to the Intelligence Corps and served as an NCO and after he was discharged from the regular army. In 1970, his eldest son Eyal was born, and Meir was a diligent and talented worker who devoted his time to streamlining the work and improving the procedures, and succeeded in combining work with studies in the Department of French Language and Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Meir was involved in a wide range of social and public activities and was involved in social life and the state, acting as a youth counselor in the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood and helping rehabilitate boy. In early January 1971 he volunteered to serve two years in the regular army. He took part in a multi-sergeant course and was used against my unit. In this role he was promoted to First Sergeant. At the beginning of January 1973 he was discharged from the career army and assigned to the infantry reserve brigade – the Jerusalem Brigade. On the 10th of Tishrei 5734, his unit was called up for active reserve duty, and Meir and his comrades were found in the line of strongholds along the Suez Canal, at the “Hazion” outpost, opposite the Firdan Bridge, fighting fiercely against the vast forces of the enemy crossing the Suez Canal Meir was the first soldier in Maoz who was hit by enemy shelling and was killed on Yom Kippur, October 6, 1973. Nine months after his fall, he was laid to rest at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem. He left behind a wife and son, parents, three brothers and four sisters. After his fall, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant.