Neufeld, Yaakov (Yankele)

Jacob (Yankele), son of Bluma and Moshe, was born on the 2nd of Tishrei 5610 (May 2, 1934) in Haifa. Yankele. “Yaakov was drafted into the IDF at the end of July 1952 and assigned to the Armored Corps. After basic training, he completed his armored training course and was trained as a tank gunner. He quickly became famous for his talents and his commanders sent him to a tank commanders course and then to an officers’ course and to the Armored Corps course. He finished all these courses with excellent grades. In the course of his regular service, he volunteered to serve in the regular army, and in 1956 he participated in Operation Kadesh in the great armored battles in the Abu-Agila area “In his description of the battles, in Yariv’s book” The Battle, “Yankele has a central place, through his fighting and his special connections with the fighters under his command, one of them said:” There was infinite devotion in him, his tone was paternal And in his concern for his subordinates, he became very sensitive. “At the end of Operation Kadesh, Yankele was discharged from regular service and returned to Kibbutz Kfar Giladi. He was sent to study fine mechanics and specialized in the field of pumps and diesel engines, which he completely conquered and for seventeen years he worked on the development and perfection of the cotton-picking industry, and in 1960 married his girlfriend Hanina, and their eldest son, Ronen, was born a year later, and their daughter, Michal, was born in 1964. Yankele participated as a commander of a tank company during the Six-Day War, in the armored battles that took place on the Gonen-Wast route in the Golan Heights.And was the first to storm Kuneitra and conquer it. About two years after the end of the Six-Day War he went to the United States and later to Europe to participate in special courses in the field of diesel engines. About half a year after his return to Israel, Rotem was born. Yankele had a great deal of love and concern for his wife and children and was endlessly devoted to them. In 1972, he trained a group of Armored Corps soldiers from the Uganda Army, in one of the armored corps bases, and after leaving Israel he went with his family to Uganda to continue there under their guidance. It was not long before Idi Amin expelled all the Israelis from his country, and Yankele returned to his kibbutz and continued to work and work energetically in all areas of the agriculture: he continued to develop the field of mechanization and also held public positions During the Yom Kippur War, Yankele took part in the brutal fighting in the southern Golan Heights On October 16, 1973, Yankele was hit by artillery fire, and he was attacked by a group of men who had already reached the heights of Ma’aleh Gamla. He was brought to rest in the Kfar Giladi cemetery and left behind a wife, a son and two daughters, a father, a mother and three sisters,