Gabriel, Zion

Son of Lama and Gabriel-Hacohen, Zion was born on July 1, 1966, in the city of Qamshili, Syria. The family moved to Aleppo, where his father worked as a jeweler. Zion studied at the Jewish community school in Aleppo. In 1978, the family managed to escape from Syria and immigrate to Israel, where they settled in Kiryat Ata and Zion was sent to a boarding school in Zichron Yaakov where he studied carpentry. In 1981, he underwent basic training and volunteered to serve in the border police. During the Peace for Galilee War, he and his unit moved to Lebanon to work in regular security. On the 25th of Cheshvan 5743 (11.11.1982), when a gas canister exploded in the military administration building in Tire, the building collapsed and Zion was buried under it together with other soldiers who were there. He was 21 years old. He was laid to rest in the military section of Kiryat Ata. He left behind a mother, four sisters, and a brother. In his name, electrical equipment was donated to the synagogue of the Syrian immigrants in Jerusalem.