Melina, Itzik (Yitzhak)
Son of Julie and Joseph. Itzik was born on July 16, 1964 in Haifa, the oldest brother of his parents, the eldest brother of Natan, Tamir and Yaniv, and in April 1989 he joined the Israel Police. Head of the movement’s office in the Haifa police, who lived in Haifa with his wife Carmit and their children Maor, Michal and Yael Itzik was killed in an operational operation in the Carmel fire on Thursday, December 2, 2010, The Carmel Forest disaster, the largest in the country’s history, destroyed a forest, grove and residential buildings in a large area of the Carmel Park and the surrounding communities, and about seventeen thousand people were evacuated from their homes, About a quarter of a thousand dunam of land and millions of trees went up in flames, about a third of the homes of Kibbutz Beit Oren went up in flames, and dozens more of houses in the artists’ village of Ein Hod and Yemin Orde Youth Village, and only three days later the fire forgot. It was quickly spread to the Nahal Hik area, the Har Alon reserve, the Damon prison, the Shukf Mountain Nature Reserve and Kibbutz Beit Oren, and due to grave concern about the evacuation of prisoners from the Damon prison and afterwards to Carmel Prison, officers and policemen who blocked traffic routes Fire of the Firefighting and Rescue Service, and cadets and instructors of the IPS Officers Course, 1st grade. At 15:30, the cadet bus moved between ancient quarries and Beit Oren, followed by police cars. Suddenly the wind changed its direction and began to send tongues of burning fire toward the bus, huge walls of fire blocking the traffic artery, holding on to everything and making every shred of life at top speed. Forty-four men and women perished in the fire. Thirty-seven of them were cadets of the course of the Israel Prison Service officers and course commanders, the bus driver, three firefighters and three police officers, including Itzik. Itzik was forty-six when he fell. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Haifa. Survived by a wife, son and two daughters, parents and three brothers. On the performance of Itzik Basson in the Carmel and for his courage, he was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Inspector General of the Israel Police after his fall. Itzik’s gravestone was written by his lovers: “Beloved of our hearts, you acted with supreme courage, as an example and a model for saving human life.” Those who perished in the fire disaster are commemorated by a monument built in the Carmel Forest near Kibbutz Beit Oren. The Israel Police launched a ship called “Carmel” in memory of the three police officers who fell in the fire, including Itzik. (The information on this page is written according to the data in the possession of the Unit for the Commemoration of the Soldier, the full story of life will be published later.) (This page is part of the Yizkor memorial project held by the Ministry of Defense)