Mordechai was born on December 28, 1952, in Kibbutz Talmey Yaffe, and when he was one year old, his family moved to Hadera, and when he reached the age of seven, the family settled in Safed, where he attended elementary school, He lived in a warm, loving home and was very attached to him, and he loved the house and the family and the hours he spent with them were the happiest of his life, and even during his military service he spent all his vacations at home despite his great distance from his service in Sinai. This is a house whose door is open to every friend and friend, with a family that welcomes each guest with open arms and gives him a feeling of warmth and love. He gave a lot of love to his family, and with his friends he formed a Yaffa friendship, and his house served as a meeting place for the group, which continues to meet now but lacks the central character. He was always active in the football and volleyball departments of Hapoel, and spent most of his free time listening to music and reading books. Mostly he liked to listen to rhythm music and had a developed sense of rhythm. He appreciated music performed properly and swept his friends in the heat of the rhythms of the music and singing of his favorite bands. He also read many books, mainly books dealing with military, security and policy. Mordechai was drafted into the IDF in early August 1971 and asked to serve in the Armored Corps, and he decided to serve in an Armored Corps unit and to serve as a commanding officer. Of service to the satisfaction of his commanders was sent to the officers’ course at the IDF officers’ school and was trained in armored officers’ course at the Armored Corps School. After being granted the rank of officer, he was sent to serve as a platoon commander in an armored corps unit in the Sinai. Moti took over a platoon of veteran soldiers who were on the brink of being released from regular service and despite being a young inexperienced commander, managed to bring the department to a high professional level. He played his role seriously and calmly, was a firm commander and served as a personal example of his subordinates. In his unit, he became known as an excellent professional, who combined meticulous and precise execution of the corps’ instructions with leadership ability and personal ability to command a platoon and to make his subordinates follow him to battle with faith and confidence in their strength. A few days before Yom Kippur 1973, he had to take over as a guide at the Armored Corps School, but as a result of the tension in Sinai, he remained with his unit, and when the Yom Kippur War broke out, his battalion went to the Suez Canal to stand up against the enemy armored units that crossed the canal. On the third day of the fighting, Moti joined as a crew member for the last tank, which remained in the unit, with all its crew members who were commanders in the battalion, who was nicknamed “the officers’ tank” “The tank moved at the head of the force that broke through to Kantara, Who was the gunner in the tank, in an ambush of Egyptian soldiers, who demonstrated his resourcefulness and courage, hit the enemy and saved his crewmates On October 8, 1973, the crew joined their tank with a force that fought in front of the Firdan Bridge, He was brought to eternal rest in the Safed cemetery and left behind his parents and brother, who was promoted to lieutenant on the second anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.”In the Yom Kippur War, after all the tanks of the company were out of action, on October 7, 1973, a group of officers was formed,” said Major General Mordechai Gur. The team included the company commander – Captain Noam Dvir, the deputy company commander – Lieutenant Mordechai Fine, who later joined the team, Captain Yoram Ophir, who was the operations officer in the battalion. On Monday, October 8, 1973, Lieutenant Yuval Neriah passed from this tank to command another tank. The “Officers Tank” participated in the battles near the “Firdan” bridge and later that day, in an attack on the “device” and “Hamutal”, where the tank was hit during an assault and all of its crew was killed. In these actions, the officers found adherence to the mission, a desire for fighting and courage. “
