Gil (Slim), Eli

Son of Avraham and Matilde. He was born in 1951 in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and immigrated to Israel with his parents in 1951. He studied at the Eshel Hanasi agricultural school near Be’er Sheva, and was a regular, honest and friendly man. , Even if it was exhausting manual labor, and he loved physical work and would finish it despite all the difficulties, he was always willing to help others, even though he helped his friends, encouraged them and carried their equipment despite his fatigue. He never quarreled with a friend, did not shout or grumble, and behaved respectfully with everyone around him. But he did not hesitate to choose the naval commando, so he practiced a great deal of sport: running, throwing an iron ball and exercising on tension, he wanted to develop his physical fitness, and his friend tried to dissuade him from this idea, Eli responded by saying, “The people need me and you want me to be wasted in the cowshed.” He joined the IDF in August 1969 and volunteered for the naval commando unit. In the commando he served for about six months and was proud of his ability and unit, but was forced to leave the unit due to a minor visual impairment and joined an excellent unit that served in the Jordan Valley. In which he did good and with her participated in many operational activities, until the day the patrol vehicle boarded a deadly mine and he was seriously injured. Then he had to leave the valley, which he liked very much. After about three months he appeared to have recovered from the possibility of choosing a light service in an administrative unit, but again he refused to surrender and preferred to serve again as a combat soldier in the Sayeret. In a conversation with one of his friends, the friend asked him why he was volunteering for the third time, since he had enough of two disasters; “I love combat and therefore I will do everything to be a combat soldier,” he replied. On the 17th of Kislev 5731 (17.12.1970), Eli died during his service. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Be’er Sheva. In the booklet “The Moshavim in the Negev” of Tishrei 5771 (October 1971) two pages are devoted to Eli and the stories of his friends.