Gabriel, Joseph (“Yossi”)

Son of Jonah and Bilha. Born in 1948 in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, the family immigrated to Israel in 1951. Yossi studied at the Nahshon Elementary School and completed his studies there, then worked light work in the morning while in the evening he continued to study at the Afekim High School But he did not have time to study in it until one year, because he had to support his parents and the large family, and he went to work as a construction worker, and during his spare time he was involved in sports and was about to register in Hapoel as a soccer player. But he did not manage to serve until a year and a month when the Six-Day War broke out. During his service, he underwent a sabotage course and served in the Golani Brigade. He loved and was proud of the army, for the army of Israel is – and Yossi saw his duty to defend the homeland because of the great love he had for her and his people. He would care for his family and miss them, and his mother would say, “Mother, you have nothing to worry about, there are thousands more like me … We must serve the homeland loyally and with devotion.” On June 6, he wrote a letter to his parents, which began with the words “a bundle of blessings and longings from afar” in which he expresses his concern for his lords in Jerusalem, even though he himself was under tension. In the same letter, the last one received at his home, he asked his mother over and over again not to worry about him – and he concluded: “Everything passes, I do not know what will happen next, but I hope to return home safely and safely.” On Sunday, June 9, 1967, he was killed in a battle on the Golan Heights at the Tel el-Fakhr post, and was buried at the military cemetery in Afula and was later transferred to the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. His memory was raised in “Yesodot”, the journal of the construction workers union.