Portnov, Yoram

Son of Baruch (Dov) and Shoshana. He was born on October 15, 1941 in Tel Aviv. Both parents were apprentices and counselors in the “Scouts” community and later members of the Haganah. His father was a division commander and upon the establishment of the state was a major in the IDF in the Science Corps. Yoram’s childhood was the beginning of the War of Independence and the family lived on the southern edge of Hayarkon Street, not far from the Hassan Beck Mosque; Living in that neighborhood was fraught with constant tension. From a very young age, Yoram showed an unusual tendency toward mechanics; He spent many hours in his father’s factory (engineer and machine planner). After graduating from the Tel Nordoi elementary school, he studied at ORT (Yad-Singelovsky) in Tel Aviv. In November 1959 he was drafted into the IDF and after completing a course he was sent to serve as a guard. Was a modest and restrained fellow with quiet humor and a willingness to take responsibility and help others. His special talents in the mechanic field liked him for his friends and commanders at the base and found expression in the roles he played in the unit as a symbol and a traitor. His service ended in March 1962, but he did not find a suitable replacement and Yoram agreed to continue volunteering for another three months. After he was able to train a suitable replacement, he was released from the army and Yoram returned to his parents’ home and joined his father in his work. Together, they planned a new factory to manufacture machines in Pardes Hannah, and then the entire family moved to Kfar Shmaryahu. But in May 1967, Yoram was called to reserve duty as a sabotage man in his unit – the Harel reconnaissance unit – and he was busy preparing for the establishment of the factory. In the reserves, Yoram used to do his regular service. He drove quietly, worked efficiently and with dedication, and filled every role and task assigned to him-and so every officer wanted to keep him in his unit. On June 5, the unit left east. All night she advanced at the top of the force in the mountains through Nebi Samuel, Beit Iksa and Beit Hanina. In the early hours of the Six Day War, on the 27th day of Iyar 5727 (June 6, 1967), Yoram was hit by the same mountain that was associated with many memories (Mount Scopus) and fell. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The commander of his unit wrote to his parents that Yoram had burned his soul in battle, which was one of the battles that determined the fate of Jerusalem. In the “Thirty”, his comrades went up to the same hill where he fell and set up a wave of witness in memory of their friend. “In the Village,” a bulletin of the Kfar Shmaryahu Local Council, was dedicated to his memory. Mordechai Gilat dedicated his book “Mount Scopus” to him.