Son of Zahava and Asher, Yossi was born in Ashdod, on the 20th of Tammuz 5731 (July 20, 1971), the eldest son of three children in his family. Until the eighth grade, Yossi studied in his hometown, at the Yahalom Elementary School, and at the Neve Herzog School. From the ninth to twelfth grade he studied at the “Or Etzion” center in Shapira, and at the same time was active in the Bnei Akiva youth movement, and after graduating from high school he chose to study at the pre-military academy. Yossi stood out for many of his special qualities. Friends of Yossi’s always said that when we grow up, Yossi will be in charge of us, even in another twenty years … He was the cohesive cement of the whole class. In the pre-military preparatory program, Yossi stood out in his serious and thorough approach to the material he was studying, and at the same time prepared himself to serve in an elite unit. He was quiet and shy, attentive, seriousn and responsible, with an inner dignity and heroism, and above all honesty. Yossi joined the IDF in August 1990, to the Golani Brigade, and from the outset it was clear to him, just as it was clear to his commanders and friends, that he would reach far because of his excellent qualities and high motivation. After completing a course in the Sayeret, he went to an officers’ course and chose to continue as a commander, in one of the battalions. “The squadron,” he said, “comes the high-quality guys, and the educational challenge is in the battalions.” In the auxiliary company of the 51st Battalion, he was loved and admired by all. He began as a platoon commander, continued as a lieutenant colonel, and in a predictable and natural way, reached the position of commander of the battalion’s auxiliary company, where he served for two years and three months until he fell. “You had all the qualities that you should have in the census, the qualities we all aspire to, and you were born with them,” wrote Col. Moshe Kaplinsky, the former Golani Brigade commander, in a book that was published in his memory. Not only did you not give in to yourself, you always knew how to demand more from yourself than you demanded from your commanders, you were the first to get active, the first to wake up in the morning, and the last to go home “It was not for nothing that you represented us during the government’s visit to the north, and we all saw a professional officer, real and direct, and it happened to us long ago, but the members of the government were all captivated by your charms.” “A rare breed of officer and man – modesty, shyness, civil integrity, harsh self-criticism, a commander who loved his soldiers and never asked them to thank him for his actions and did not even make sure that they knew how much he was bothering,” Tzafrir Ben Zeev wrote. And does for them. Yossi, I enjoyed talking to you and learned a lot from you. You – you were young and seemingly inexperienced – with your modesty, your devotion, your professionalism, the love of the soldiers, you taught me what an officer is. “On October 15, 1995, Yossi fell in a battle in the Reihan area of the security zone in southern Lebanon, Of his soldiers – Staff Sergeant Guy Shalem Hadad, Staff Sergeant Eyal Sameh, Staff Sergeant Eyal Dror, Sergeant Yotam Inbar and Sergeant Yair Barak. He was twenty-four years old when he fell. Survived by his parents, Brother – Yishai and sister – Tamar. After his death, he was promoted to captain. He was laid to rest in the Ashdod military cemetery.
