Neiditz, Meir-Chaim

Son of Yisrael and Sonia. Born on 30 March 1930 in Tel Aviv, he completed his studies at the “Neve Sha’anan” elementary school, and when he was 15 years old he went to work in electrician and thus helped his sick father. Meir-Chaim belonged to the Lehi movement but with the outbreak of the War of Independence, he joined the IDF. His mother wanted to
dissuade him, but he did not listen to her claiming that “the country needs us all.” He was in the Armored Corps battalion and participated in all its battles, on the front of the center, Lod, Ramle and Beit-Nabala. Meir-Chaim also participated in the conquest of Beersheba, Iraq Suidan, Auja al-Hafir, and reached the outskirts of El-Arish. He always volunteered for difficult and dangerous missions and knew no fear. When the fighting ended and there was possibility of settling in the Negev, he was among the most enthusiastic about the idea. He was a member of Kibbutz Neveh Yair, had a special love for animals and worked in construction and electricity. But even here Meir-Chaim did not know peaceful civilian life, because the western Negev was full of infiltrators and the roads were littered with mines. Meir-Chaim and his fellow kibbutz members went on various dangerous patrols. On one of his patrols near the Egyptian border in the Negev, on the 28th of Av, August 28, 1949, he fell in battle with the enemy. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery at Nahalat Yitzhak.