Son of Miriam and Patrick-Netanel. He was born on the 8th of Adar 5751 (12.2.1981) in Kibbutz Ein HaNatziv in the Beit Shean Valley. The second son in the family, he was brother to Eilat, Orly, Yair and Liora and husband to Sarit. His son, named Daniel was born about three months after his death. Daniel – Danny, by all accounts was a mischievous, clever, honest, and especially ambitious boy. He began his studies at the religious state school on Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, where he went on to the Modi’in State Religious elementary school in Nahalim, where the family moved, and ended up at the Nahalim Yeshiva. Sports was a major part of his career: basketball (he was a member of the school basketball team), running, cycling and swimming – all of them excelled. Danny also studied diving and reached level two. Danny was a “Salt of the Earth” character and was a Zionist. Beautiful, with a permanent and captivating smile, he swept everyone around him. He always was concerned about the good of others and for the weak, and he secretly contributed to charities and to the causes he believed in. His friends tell of his great wisdom, kindness, modesty, sensitivity and caring, and his constant willingness to help everyone and in every situation. Alongside his seriousness, Danny also had a mischievous side that expressed himself with a wonderful sense of humor and creativity. Danny was very physical, tall, tanned and strong. He was very attracted to outdoor activities and nature walks. One of his passions was driving jeeps and tractors and later, to the chagrin of his parents, even issued a motorcycle license. Danny was a wonderful son and a beloved and admired brother. He had great respect for his parents, and even if they had disagreements with him, he would have found the way to express his opinion in a dignified and practical way. Being very independent from a young age, Danny believed that he had to know how to manage alone, for better or for worse, and therefore did not share much of his experiences. His relationship with his older sister Eilat was characterized by mutual appreciation, love and closeness. With his younger brothers Orly, Yair and Liora, Danny was a teacher and a guide, and when he felt a need he would give them motivational conversations. He served as a private tutor in their studies, and encouraged them to aspire to success and achievement. In many areas, Danny was a role model for them. At the end of his high school studies, Danny chose to go to the pre-army academy “Atzmona” in Atzmona in Gush Katif. His colleagues in the Mechina program say: “From the beginning of the year, Danny was a central part of the group.” For Danny, everything had to be perfect, so when Danny accepted the results of the matriculation exams, he decided that he should improve his grades in mathematics, and when he returned from the beit midrash instead of running with his friends to the volleyball court or other leisure activities, he would open the books and learn. Friends say that he loved the Gemara’s study of rationalism, and deepened his learning. A strong bond was formed between him and Rabbi Rafi Peretz, head of the preparatory program at the time and chief rabbi of the IDF today. Danny tried not to miss a lesson or a learning session with the rabbi, and even after completing his studies in the preparatory school, they had warm meetings. Danny’s acceptance of an IAF pilot course did not surprise anyone. When he enlisted in the IDF on July 19, 2000, he began the course with a goal and worked to achieve it quietly and discreetly, the course of the course was exhausting, demanding and tense, and demanded tremendous investment and constant memorization of the material studied, as well as the ability to withstand the conditions of uncertainty and physical efforts In 2002, Dani successfully completed his course as a helicopter pilot. This was an exciting and memorable occasion. The proud family, from all corners of the world, many friends and residents of the moshav all came to celebrate the special day. Danny was stationed in the “Rolling Sword” Squadron – an “Owl” helicopter squadron (“Black Hawk”) and began his service as a pilot. Two years later, he took operational training for the “Yassur” helicopter, and joined the “Night Forwarders” squadron. Shearwater, a powerful and powerful tool that deals with rescue and rescue, was especially suited to his character. Danny was an air crew member with excellent flying abilities, and saw his future in the air force. He loved the flights and invested heavily in his promotion and professional abilities. As usual, he performed every task with precision, dedication and responsibility, and volunteered for every task. Major A. said: “He was the glue of the regular pilots, with a very special sense of humor that held the regular squadron in the squadron, and he was a personal example of everything, and from his first incarnations on the ‘Yashur’ it was clear that he had excellent potential. “I’ve seen people chasing him and he runs away and laughs,” said Major Giora. “He was always smiling.” Danny had a variety of features, sometimes even contradictory, as his friend Mimi The school, Matan Ophir: “The side that was so quiet and modest, to get something out of him about what was happening to him was an impossible task … The side of every meeting of the guys would not shut up … the side that was so serious, an excellent pilot, a commander, the side that does not show weakness, the desire for excellence in every detail. The side of the clown, the nail of every meeting, who is willing to do everything for a good prank … The common denominator of all is Danny the man, and under all the outer layers, he hid a huge heart … “In May 2004, One of Danny’s best friends, Roi Ben-Tolila, then a deputy company commander in the Magellan unit, says: “I was wounded and I lost a lot of blood. It was a matter of minutes before I died. Danny did not know it was me, but as soon as he heard that there were serious wounded, he insisted on landing, although according to the procedures it was forbidden to land there. “I was paralyzed, but thanks to Danny, I’m alive.” On July 1, 2004, Danny married his son, Sarit, and his parents told him about the change that took place after his marriage: “Suddenly the sweet, Sensitive and delicate of the tough sabra we knew … You become gentle, supportive, hugging, loving infinitely. You were an idealistic husband who was pampering, confident, cooking with pleasure and great success, taking part in the housework with joy, praising Sarit in her studies and proud of her forever. As for you, she was your ‘queen.’ “Danny was also pleased with his nephews, and on Saturdays he loved to play with them, impatiently awaiting the expansion of his own family, and when he learned that Sarit was carrying their eldest son, he was proud and happy to heaven. He was able to visit his grandmother Galia often, and Danny would make sure to call her once a week and demand her safety, and she would pamper him with her pastries. She recounted their last meeting on the eve of his downfall: “When I told him to look after himself, You worry. I’m just a taxi driver of the vertices. “On July 12, 2006, the Second Lebanon War broke out, and Danny, who was about to complete a course for captains in the” Yasur “helicopter, wanted to participate in the fighting beyond the lines and to contribute his part. Last month he waited to be called on to fight,” said his mother, Miriam. He was determined and believed in the rightness of our path, but in a personal conversation between us about the dangers he was exposed to, he emphasized that there were no survivors in the fall of a helicopter. ” The day before, he had visited the family in the streams, and soothed them. He said that the one who ultimately makes the war is the greens, Miriam says. Sarit’s birthday came that week, and it was also the week when the couple marked their second wedding anniversary. Danny left the squadron for a few hours and surprised Sarit with a gift that was her life’s dream – a piano. Danny was at the height of his personal and professional blossom. “Everything was perfect, even too perfect,” his mother says. Shortly before the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, Danny embarked on his first and last flight into Lebanon – a flight from which he did not return. Captain Daniel Gomez fell as a pilot in a battle in southern Lebanon on August 12, 2006. Danny, who served as the deputy pilot and the helicopter crew, managed to land thirty-five paratroopers and doctors in the village of Yatar on the outskirts of the central sector. As soon as they were taken back to Israel, a missile hit the helicopter. The helicopter crashed and all five crew members died. He was accompanied by Major-General (res.) Nissan Shalev, and the flying mechanics Major Sami Ben-Naim, Senior Sergeant Ron Mashiah and Sergeant (Res.) Keren Tendler. Their complex rescue operation, dubbed “The Return of Boys,” was carried out by the fighters of the “Desert Birds” Squadron, “Shaldag” and “669”. “At dawn,” says Patrick, Danny’s father, “as soon as the owl crossed the border back to Israel, they sent us a small note that Danny had come home. Daniel was twenty-five years old when he died, and thousands of people accompanied him on his final journey to the cemetery in Nahalim, where he was buried, leaving behind a pregnant wife, parents, three sisters, and a brother three months after his birth. His son, was named after his father Daniel. His parents eulogized him: “Our dear beloved son Daniel! … You were not a man of talk but a man of deeds. … You knew why you were here and for whom you were doing what you were doing, and were willing to go all the way, with all that implied. … how long you waited for the expansion of the family, and how we waited to see how the ‘tough’ softened in front of his own children. It is painful that you did not get it, but our consolation is that you have left us something tangible and tangible from you. The song “Daniel” was written by Uri Ofir, composed by Asaf Nagel and adapted by Tomer Gottlieb. “The moving words of the song resemble Danny in the Ark of the Covenant, gold “I salute Daniel and everything,” said Brigadier General (Ret.) Ofer Raskin, who was photographed with him. Who represents: youth, innocence, Israeliness, maturity, ‘salt of the earth’, pilot and amazing man. “On the first anniversary of his downfall, Daniel’s mother said “G-d gave us three new dawns. Three new babies have joined our family since you left, and everyone bears your name directly or indirectly. First your son, Aviya-Daniel, was born. To win, to feel and to see every day something tangible from you is a great light. … On the eve of Shavuot, your sister Eilat and her husband Harel gave birth to a daughter, Achinoam, in whose name the pleasantness and pleasantness that characterized you are embodied. How symbolic that on the official memorial day for the war, our dear grandson Daniel Eliashiv, the son of your sister Orly and her husband Tamir, was born. … May your soul never be extinguished and illuminate our path from now on forever. “On June 1, 2008, after Israel transferred the spy Nassim Nasser to Lebanon, Hezbollah returned, among other things, Daniel’s tiny body parts found in the crash zone. A second burial in the Nahalat Cemetery, Sarit, his Widow said: “You were my best friend, you made me feel safe …Who am I? … You were a real hero who never hesitated to take the risk of embarking on a mission, since the importance of protecting the people and the land was clear to you. … Be sure my dear, that even if they asked me today whether I would choose those who live amazing moments of love and then a great pain and endless and endless longing I would choose you my love, because I feel privileged to meet you even a few years. … I am very moved by my love, my eternal love. “On the 17th of Adar I (13.2.08), the date on which Daniel’s twenty-seventh birthday was due, his family organized a large event during which a Torah scroll was put into the main synagogue in Nahalim. Attended by Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, former Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon, as well as fighters aboard the helicopter that Danny landed in Lebanon, his squadron members and soldiers from the rescue forces. A week after the event, a new cultural center was inaugurated in Moshav Nachalim. Then his mother said: “We have left us a soul and content so that Beit Dani will be full of life and activity, where there will be classes and cultural activities alongside meetings of bringing together hearts and programs to acquaint the country and its heritage with youth and adults.” One of the main commemorative memorials for Daniel is the Derech Eretz project, an agricultural educational project in the Tur’an Ridge, in which students, soldiers and students arrive for an educational week that connects them to the land and the land. Another educational program that was designed in memory of Danny is “Wings”, a leadership and personal empowerment project for 12th graders, in which students are exposed to role models and embark on a journey of cohesion and touching the lives of IDF soldiers. Danny was also immortalized in a unique water skiing course for wounded soldiers and victims of hostile acts that took place on the Ein Gev beach in the Sea of Galilee. The Gomez family donated the money for the course in cooperation with the Tikvat organization. Danny’s family continues to work hard to perpetuate his memory in the meetings and conferences in which lines are drawn to his image and does not stop longing.
