Halimi, Israel (Andrey)
Son of Esther and Shalom, was born on 23.3.1928 in Batna, Algeria, the youngest son of a family of 10. He studied at the Borges Bon Arridge High School and in the high school in Constantine, During his studies in Constantinople, he was involved in the life of the Jewish community there, and in his parents’ home, despite being the youngest of the boys, he took a considerable part in the decisions of the family and everyone loved him and appreciated him for his comfortable character and mature, The Second World When Jewish children were expelled from schools in Algeria, one of Israel’s teachers, a well-known antisemite, threatened that if he were expelled Dre – resigned from his position, and at the same time one of his sisters founded a Jewish school in the underground that taught secular lessons, and Andre helped his father, who taught in the same school, teaching Judaism and religion, He arrived in Israel in mid-June 1948 and immediately sent excited letters to his family describing his great joy at having reached the Holy Land and his happiness for the achievements in the development of the country. And even boasted that he spoke Hebrew as one of the Sabras. Upon arrival he joined a group of French-speaking young people, some of whom were veterans of the French underground in World War II. The group was joined by a man named Teddy Dupra who was a devout Catholic and stuck to the Zionist bug. Their goal was to liberate Eretz Israel and ensure its safety, and to this end they joined the army and joined the Palmach’s Negev Brigade. They wore crepe shoes and their belts were jammed with commando knives. They were called “the French Commando”. The group quickly integrated into the war in southern Israel and headed the force that entered Be’er Sheva during its occupation. During Operation Horev to remove the Egyptian army from the country, the French Commando was forced to conquer the Tamila outposts on the Beersheba-Nitzana road. The company succeeded in conquering one of the outposts and preparing it, but the Egyptians launched a counterattack under cover from the outposts that had not yet been conquered. After a number of attacks were repulsed, the force was forced to retreat in light of the Egyptian priority, and only after the arrival of reinforcements were the Egyptian outposts occupied. On December 26, 1948, Andre died in a battle with seventeen of his friends and they were brought to rest in the cemetery at Kibbutz Revivim in the Negev. For forty-five years, his family, who lived in France, did not know where their loved one was buried. Only in April 1993 did his sister from France come to visit his grave in Revivim.
