Hodak, Gandhi

Ben Tzilla and Yosef. He was born in the city of Chisinau, Moldova, in the USSR, where he grew up and was educated. Brother to David. After graduating from high school, Gandhi continued to study at the College of Transport and Transport of the Ministry of Transport in the Soviet Union, where he studied technical service and repair of vehicles. After completing his studies he served in the Soviet Army as an aircraft mechanic. In 1974, during his military service, Gandhi married Albina. A year after their marriage, their eldest daughter Ella was born and in 1984 Ina was born. Upon his release from the army, Gandhi worked as a taxi driver. In 1989 the family immigrated to Israel and settled in Rehovot, where Gandhi learned Hebrew in the ulpan. Gandhi joined Israel and began working for IAI as an aircraft mechanic, renovating and maintaining them. In 1996, Ella, his eldest daughter, married her son, Sharon, Gandhi’s grandson. Gandhi served in the reserves as a heavy truck driver in the Northern Galilee Division’s Supply Battalion. On July 22, 1998, while in reserve service, Gandhi was killed in a road accident on the Yokneam-Megiddo road, when a vehicle traveling in the opposite lane deviated from its course and collided head-on with the vehicle in which Gandhi drove as a hitchhiker. He was forty-three years old. Gandhi was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Netanya. Survived by a wife, two daughters and a father. After his fall he was promoted to sergeant. In a letter of condolence to the family, Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz writes: “Gandhi was described by his commanders as a disciplined soldier who carried out his duties to their full satisfaction, without bias. He stood out in his industriousness and showed endless responsibility and dedication … “The commander of the unit continues to write:” … Gandhi was a model soldier, who demonstrated great resourcefulness in carrying out his missions. He carried out his task diligently, with dedication and high self-discipline when the path was always right before his eyes … “