David, son of Hannah and Israel, was born on December 23, 1938 in Basra, Iraq, and immigrated to Israel with his family in 1950. He began his studies at the “Alliance” elementary school in his hometown, and after arriving in Israel he studied at the Beit Yaakov religious elementary school in Jerusalem. He graduated from high school, attended evening classes, and passed the matriculation exams. David grew up and was educated in the glorious community of Iraqi Jews, in the spirit of Jewish tradition, and absorbed the values of Zionism and concern for the people and his country. This concern accompanied him in all his actions and was expressed in his diary and poems. This concern and the desire to do for the people led him to tie his future to the fate of the state and volunteer to serve in the permanent army. He knew the family’s difficulties well and went to work to help support her. In the evening, after a hard day’s work, he completed his studies and enriched his knowledge. David was drafted into the IDF in mid-November 1957 was placed in the Armored Corps. He began his career as a tank crew member in the “HaBokim” battalion. In 1959 he successfully completed tank commanders and returned to serve in the “HaBokim” battalion. After a period of service he successfully completed an officers’ course at the IDF Officers School and an Armored Corps course and was chosen to serve as a trainer in the Armored Corps School, beginning in 1957 with two parallel tracks: Family life. In 1963 he married Etti, who accompanied him faithfully wherever he went. He tried to build his house close to his unit so that he could be with his family. In April 1961 he completed his regular service and decided to volunteer for the regular army. In January 1964 he was promoted to the rank of captain and commander of the Armored Corps.He fought in the Six Day War in the battle for the conquest of northern Sinai, and participated in a battle to purify the jiradi and al-arish settlements, And participated in the battles of the War of Attrition On June 10, 1967, the day the war ended, David was promoted to the rank of Major The role of an operations officer in a tank division. Thanks to his excellence, he was appointed assistant battalion commander in a tank division in Sinai He was a captain of a tank battalion. For this purpose, he was sent to the Interdisciplinary College of Command and Headquarters and successfully completed the Senior Officers Course and combined with the course “Geography Studies” at Tel Aviv University. After completing the course he was appointed Commander of the Armored Corps Commanders Course and in September 1970 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. In 1971, he was appointed the commander of the Armored Corps in 1971. In August 1971, he was appointed the commander of the 77th Battalion in the 7th Brigade. He held this position for two years and later was appointed to the position Deputy commander of the Barak Brigade in the Golan Heights, and David saw the battalion commander as the peak of his activity. The regiment he received was in the process of getting organized, and David was the one who established the battalion’s first permanent base in the Sinai. He left behind him an excellent combat unit and a family of fighters, which was revealed in all its greatness in the Yom Kippur War. David was a commander who combined professionalism and meticulousness with a cordial and humane approach to his soldiers. He demanded the precise and perfect execution of each action and therefore extended the training and activity hours. He was guided by a stubborn aspiration to perfection, and so he invested a great deal of effort in his work and was the first to begin the work and the last day. He did not make do with praise from his commanders and strove to improve the level of the unit. He used to examine every detail of himself and there was nothing he could not see. David was meticulous about fostering human relations between soldiers and commanders and his concern for the individual was a thing for him in the Armored Corps, and he believed that the soldiers should be made as easy as possible and that their conditions of service be improved. In order to carry out the tasks assigned to them, David brought the soldiers’ families closer to the unit, held joint meetings at the base and a brotherly seashore at the seashore, and turned the battalion and then the brigade into a cohesive family. Adopting the town of Hatzor. Despite the many doubts expressed by the townspeople and the brigade officers, he managed to create a close relationship between the soldiers and the civilians. The residents of Hatzor toured the Golan Heights and visited the camps under the guidance of the brigade officers. He organized a bar mitzvah for thirteen children from the town and organized a trip to Jerusalem for them. But as a commander he saw it as a primary duty to prepare his unit for battle. He himself was prepared for all that the war envisioned, as evidenced by what he wrote in 1958: “But if I do not return, heaven forbid, and I will not be victorious, do not weep for me, for I will rest in peace and rest, I will lie forever and never return. I will not demand prayer and supplication, not even one tear for my sake, because this will be my part by sacrificing my blood, my body, my country and my land, my people and my family. ” When the Yom Kippur War broke out, the Barak Brigade was stationed on the front line on the Golan Heights and fought with the Syrian armored forces. David and his soldiers fought stubborn and bitter battles and managed to prevent their progress into the Golan Heights. On the 7th of Tishrei 5740 (October 7, 1973), a large Syrian force threatened the brigade’s plans in the vicinity of the oil pipeline and the village of Nafach. The commander of the Barak Brigade, Colonel son of-Shoham and his deputy, David, headed a force of four tanks to try to stop the enemy’s advance in the area. They destroyed enemy tanks one by one and even saw the enemy begin to retreat. David continued the assault on the enemy until the ammunition ran out of his tank and he went out to storm the enemy tanks with only a machine gun. During the assault he was hit and killed. He was laid to rest at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem. He left behind a wife, two sonsDaughter, parents, four brothers and two sisters. In May 1975, he was awarded the Medal of Valor for the discovery of heroism in carrying out a combat duty with great trepidation.
