Oz (Ozi) Mendelowitz

Oz (Ozi) Mendelowitz was Osnat and Ofer’s eldest son. Oz was born on 23.3.1993 in Kibbutz Yakum. On March 11, 2012, Oz enlisted in the IDF. He served as a combat soldier in the Golani Brigade. Oz fell in a battle in Sejaiya during Operation Tzuk Eitan on July 20, 2014. He was twenty-one years old, and was laid to rest in the Misgav cemetery in the Galilee, near his home town of Atzmon. After his death, Oz was promoted to the rank of First Sergeant. On Oz’s gravestone, his loved ones wrote the verse: “Strong like a leopard, light as an eagle, fast like a deer and strong like a Aryeh” (Pirkei Avot 5:20). They added: “A king in your life and an angel in your death.”