Ben Ruti and Zion, was born in Kfar Yona on August 17, 1978, a younger brother to Vicky, Naomi, Roni, Dudu, Baruch and Sherry. Eyal, a sweet baby and loved by everyone, grew up and became a loving, responsible and dedicated guy. Eyal began studying at the Amal elementary school in Kfar Yona and completed his studies at the Yavneh High School at Beit Yanai at the end of 13. After completing his military service he planned to study computers at the Technion, and in July 1996 Eyal enlisted in the IDF and was stationed in the Ordnance Corps, Where he served for about a year. Eyal, who dreamed of serving in Golani, did everything in his power to join the brigade. In the end he managed to realize his dream and joined the Golani family. Eyal loved military service in general and in Golani in particular. He never complained and volunteered to go on missions even when he did not have to. He acquired the appreciation and love of his colleagues in the unit for his leadership, values and warm personality. During the difficult periods of training, he would encourage his friends with a broad smile, a good word and help. His classmates say he was a soldier of the best kind, ‘poisoned’, a professional and strong. But most of all he was the best kind of man. Always helps and smiles. A charismatic and modest leader. Eyal Ballet is professional. His comrades in the unit and his commanders knew that he could always be counted on to perform his duties without fear, for the best. “You were an expert on the small details – you knew every bolt and bolt in the Negev, in a mortar and anything you touched, and on the other hand, the great goal of protecting the state’s border did not disappear from you. The little ones of the track and the old company … You did everything with a smile and good heart … “In his spare time and during his vacations, Eyal liked to play basketball, spend time with friends and read, mostly science fiction books. Computer games and surfing the Internet appealed to him, and he also planned to study computers at the Technion after his military service. Eyal maintained close and close contact with his family. He loved his nephews very much, played with them, picked them up and raised them. Never angry, never shouting, all quietly and comfortably, and with a lot of love and patience. In the early hours of Thursday, August 17, 1999, Eyal’s twenty-first birthday, an IDF patrol encountered a Hizbullah squad of terrorists in southern Lebanon. In the ensuing battle, Sergeant Doron Hershkovitz was killed and three soldiers were wounded. A force from the battalion’s regiment, including Eyal, was summoned to aid and evacuate the wounded. Eyal, who was the gunman by force, rescued two wounded people himself. After the evacuation, the force organized to continue fighting the terrorists. During the battle, the battalion commander was wounded and Eyal was killed and brought to rest in the military cemetery in Netanya, leaving his parents, four brothers and two sisters. In his letter of condolence to the bereaved family, Lt. Col. Ilan, commander of the unit, wrote: “During his service in the First Bowsers Battalion, he was not afraid and did not shy away from the demanding service in Lebanon, and carried out his missions with a constant aspiration to professionalism. Eyal was the first to volunteer for every mission, displaying courage and coolness, and was a leader in the eyes of his unit members … “Elad, his platoon commander, eulogized him:” I never told you how much I would admire you … “You were the best soldier in the company, the ones who looked at them and wanted to be like them.” You always knew how to be the first in every mission. “Eyal’s brother, Baruch, wrote:” One day, in the morning with the sunrise, when the bird had risen to the sky, the wind howled in its desolation Easy, and the last hamsin day began, and then my brother awoke. By noon the wind had turned fierce and the sun burned mercilessly. Helicopter mounted helicopter dropped, exit towards the wadi and a bundle of shots. And you, my brother, have not given up. The evening of the sun toward the sea drops, and the wind has also taken a nap. The day of hamsin has become a reality and the small world is returning to normal. And you, my brother, were gone. Get up, bro, do not fall, straight up your height, they’ll know how much we loved. And the days no longer pass, they too stand at attention in your honor. And every smile that pops up contains your memory. And you are my brother, missing. Eyal, brother, you are surely the man who brings back the wind and shines the sun. The bird that is inhaling aims to reach you, and the hamsin that strikes is the heat of your body. And you are the blood of our hearts. “His nephew Shai wrote:” … I miss you so much. I really love you. Every time you came back from the army you played with me in some game. Especially in football. I loved at night to come to you and lie next to you. Now you are the angel of the family. Looking up from above and protecting us that nothing will happen to us … “The family set up Eyal’s website in his memory at http://city.walla.co.il/gueyal, with milestones from various periods in Eyal’s life, the story of the battle in which he fell, Which was written in memory of his family, friends, and friends in his memory, a tree was planted in the Jerusalem hills by Rabbi Yonatan Perlman and Dina Lipsky.
