Idelstein, Yosef (Yossi)

The son of Sarah and Gershon was born on May 3, 1828, in Zichron Yaakov, to a family rooted in Israel: from his father’s side, grandson of one of the pioneers of Zichron Yaakov, and on his mother’s side, grandson of one of the founders of Kfar Tavor. In Zichron Yaakov, he attended elementary school and devoted himself to working in the kibbutz, to ease his aging father’s health. He was known for his good behavior at school and later at work and in contact with people. He was always willing to help and benefit others, courteous and modest. When he was 17 he joined the Haganah and went through all the training stages. In December 1947, he accepted the call of the Homeland and went out with his friends to service, without trying to ask for liberation as someone whose work was vital to the agriculture and the only son of a sick father. He participated in many operations in the Sharon and “Triangle” fronts. Towards the end of the winter he received a release in order to help the agriculture, but on the day of the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel, given the order that the released soldiers would also stand up for battle, he returned to his service in the Alexandroni Brigade. When his father’s illness increased, he was released again to work in the farm, and went to his unit to inform his commander of his release. On that evening, on May 30, 1948, when a unit of his battalion left for an attack on the village of Tira in the Sharon, from which the Iraqis harassed Kfar Hess and the rest of the Sharon settlements, Yosef joined her in a good mood and stormed the village at the head of the burglars. The attack failed and Yosef was the last to withdraw. He was hit by enemy bullets and fell. A monument in his memory was erected in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. This fallen hero is a “maklan” – a hero whose burial place is unknown.