Ben Hannah and Menashe. He was born on Thursday, 29.5.1971, in Jerusalem, the third son of a family of four.Joel grew up, studied and studied in Jerusalem, from the “Beit HaYeled” elementary school and graduated from the “Beit Hinuch” high school Chemistry, physics and mathematics, and was an outstanding athlete whose main love was basketball, first as an actor and later as coach Yoel played in the school team and led the team to the high school championship and at the same time played for the Hapoel team in Jerusalem. For long distances and in 1984, he was crowned as the youth champion in a 1,000 meter run, and his other hobbies were diving and cycling in the Judean Desert. “Yoel’s talents were not in the upper decile, but in the upper division.” In August 1989, Yoel was drafted into the army’s compulsory army service, To. He volunteered for the Paratroopers Brigade and was accepted into the Sayeret. At the end of the basic training course, he was sent to the paramedics course and graduated with honors. He was chosen to go to an officer’s course and this time he was an outstanding trainee. Yoel returned to the commando unit as commander of the team and later as a tank commander, and at the end of the period in the reconnaissance unit Yoel chose to become a company commander in the brigade and was assigned to the 101st Battalion as a company commander in November 1994. He advanced to the rank of captain. In his opinion on officers, he wrote: “An excellent officer, high quality and professional, with an overall vision and a high level of guidance … reveals initiatives, always with involvement and all his actions with modesty.” On the door of Yoel’s tent was written: “Know where you come from, where you are going and who you are going to be accountable to.” Yoel, who was not a religious person, gave this statement its own meaning: remember the difficult path at the beginning of the army, know the goal you want to lead your soldiers, and how much responsibility is in your hands. Yoel hated the distance between a commander and his subordinates. He would pass among the soldiers with a simple, warm question: “What’s going on?” And was proud that his subordinates “his children,” he called them, were not afraid of him. All his soldiers and parents gave his pager number so that he could be approached anywhere and at any time. The parents of a soldier from Ein Harod wrote: “As parents, we were privileged to send our son in a difficult and tense time, knowing that there was someone who shared our concern for his welfare … Yoel’s image deeply affected our son, his personality as a soldier and his image as a sensitive and thoughtful person.” On the eve of Rosh Hashanah 5756 (24.9.1995), Yoel was killed in a car accident and drove religious soldiers in his private car to the train station in Efrat to get to their home before the holiday began. The soldiers, whose car was overturned and Yoel was mortally wounded, was brought to Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem and when his condition was diagnosed as a clinical death, before his death, the family agreed to donate his organs. Who died at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, was twenty-four years old at the time of his death, and was survived by his mother Hanna, Tamar and Miriam and her friend Noa A year and a half before Yoel’s death his father died of a malignant disease, and the battalion commander said goodbye to Yoel at the open grave: “On the way down from Efrata, Time after time you surprised me with the power hidden in you. Strengths that have been well hidden under your calm, calm nature. Your subordinates appreciated and loved the way of command you chose, and your attitude toward them as your younger brothers. And this you did without giving upTo the level of operational and ethical requirements. … The demands of yourself characterized your work, and therefore the thorough and meticulous planning bore fruit in the performance and achievements of your company. “You went away from us when you were worried, as always, that your commands would arrive safely and before the holiday would enter their destination in the way you loved and who was part of you and from the education of the love of the land you passed on to your people.” In doing so, he never boasted of his achievements. He always placed those around him at the top of his priorities and also died. “In memory of Yoel, a basketball tournament was held under the auspices of the Jerusalem Municipality and the school where he studied, where he stood out for his fruitful sporting activities. Many who reveal a rich and sensitive soul and testify to the ability to express and write.
