masrati, David
Ben Sarah and Mordechai. He was born on October 22, 1961, in Tunis. The eldest son of a family of five. David grew up, studied and was educated in Tunis, and worked as a jeweler. In his youth he joined a Zionist youth movement in order to immigrate to Israel. When he was twenty years old, he fulfilled his dream and immigrated with his group to the Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu. He studied in a Hebrew ulpan, acquired the language and learned how to live in a religious kibbutz. In 1983, David joined Yafit in the Jordan Valley as a volunteer, where he met his girlfriend Adi. Two years later he left the moshav and moved to Moshav Shoresh, near Jerusalem, where he worked for a year as a pastry chef. In 1986, David and Adi married their son in Holon. The family expanded when their son Aviel and their daughters Natalie and Esti were born. They nurtured their home, raised and raised their three children. David worked for a living as a professional confectioner in a bakery in Holon, where he was a central and vital worker. In January 1987, David was drafted into compulsory military service in the IDF and was sent to an enrichment course in Hebrew, underwent basic training and was assigned to serve in a transport base as an administrative employee. As a family man and father to a son, he had to serve for one year only. In 1988, David was released from his regular service and assigned to a reserve unit. The release certificate reads: “He performed his duty responsibly and with the satisfaction of his commanders.” On December 1, 1993, David was called up to active reserve duty and went to his unit at the Zrifin base. On December 5, 1993, David was on his way from his home to the unit, when he was injured in a terrorist attack during an attempt by a terrorist to take over an Egged bus on route 461. He was brought to eternal rest in the military cemetery in Holon. He was thirty-two years old when he fell. Survived by Raya, son, two daughters, parents, two brothers – Shlomo and Yehuda and two sisters – Rivka and me. In a condolence letter to the family, the unit commander wrote: “Your loved one, Corporal David Mechati, was killed in a terrorist attack while fulfilling his duty to the IDF, and he carried out his duties with dedication and loyalty in training and all the security missions of his unit.”
