Israeli, Yaakov (Yankele)

Son of Shoshana (granddaughter of Rabbi EL Frumkin, one of the pioneers of Petah Tikva) and Nehemiah was born on 17.1.1928 in Petach Tikvah. He liked the agricultural work in the school garden and his parents’ farm. At age 13, his father was raised by the Haganah. After finishing six classes at the Ahad Ha’am Gymnasium, one of its best students, he went to study agriculture at the Kadouri School at the foot of the Tabor. In letters to his parents, he coaxed them to influence other young people who would also come there to learn that they would not regret it. In this school he was one of the activists for the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (Jewish National Fund) and on trips to familiarize the environment. In “Young Maccabi,” in which he served as a guide, he was one of the first to demand agricultural work and was a member of the “Solelim” nucleus. In 1945, he went on a training course for the “Young Maccabee” in the framework of the Palmach in Givat Haim, and as a native farmer he found a common language between him and the members of the kibbutz about fodder and horseradish, which he excelled in theory and practice. And when he reached the rank of officer, he was able to maintain his simplicity of conduct and his friendly attitude towards his subordinates, and was very fond of them during the period of the struggle against the British. 1946) and was detained for six weeks in Latrun, and after his release changed his name a few times while continuing his activities in Givat Haim (in the Palmach Hachsharat 8), Beit Ha’Arava, Ma’aleh Hahamisha and more. At the end of his year of service, he returned home full of plans for the development of the agriculture and a strong desire to connect to the land. At the beginning of November 1947, he was given a long vacation in order to come to the aid of his parents. Shortly thereafter, at the beginning of the winter of 1948, the Arabs began their actions against the Jewish Yishuv, and the nucleus of his company, which was burdened with the task of guarding settlements and protecting roads, hesitated in the absence of commanders. He was appointed commander of the department in Ma’aleh Hahamisha, and since then he has instructed his men to offer them all the shortages, dangers and difficulties without complaint and to fight with devotion. , Raiding the villages of Deir Ayyub and Yalu, in order to force the enemy to set aside forces to protect and raise its settlements He returned with his squad, and while our liaison officers were negotiating with the British to search for and save them, Yankele returned with all his men, and only one of them was lightly wounded. To Jerusalem in the Castel area, which was met with enemy reinforcements from Beit Sourik and the battle that fell with some of his comrades on January 25, 1948. He was brought to rest at the military cemetery in Kiryat Anavim. “As a dead hero” – his parents said when they received the announcement of Nuflo, and the order of the day states: “The commander of great merit and courage.” In the name of Yankele, his memory was sanctified in the department, and when another young man came and introduced himself as Yankele, they said to him, “Yankele we had only one, and you are Jacob.” His brother Aryeh fell on the water line in the Negev.