Saban, Yehuda

The eldest son of Jacqueline and Simon. Yehuda was born on June 2, 1960, in Be’er Sheva, in Soroka Hospital, the eldest of eight brothers and sisters, and grew up in Be’er Sheva, where he studied at the son of Tzvi Elementary School and at the Makif Gimel High School. He left high school for eleven years because of financial difficulties at home, and since then he worked and supported the entire family, and when he reached the age of eighteen he enlisted in the IDF. He served in the Border Police and during the service continued to support his large family, taking advantage of every vacation to work. In April 1981, at the end of his regular service, Yehuda continued his regular service. He was assigned a transport officer’s standard, first in Ramle, then in Bethlehem and later in Hebron. One of Yehuda’s tasks was to return soldiers who had been discharged from military service. He took it upon himself to go to their homes and persuade them to return to the base so that they would not be tried. Yehuda fulfilled his role successfully, while taking care of the soldiers and helping them as best he could. He was fond of his commanders and subordinates, who liked to be with him. During his service, Yehuda married Ruthie. The couple established their home in Be’er Sheva, where they raised their two children. Yehuda was a son, a devoted and loving husband and father. He loved to stay with his wife and children, and he respected his parents very much and devoted himself to supporting them with all their needs. First Sergeant Yehuda fell during his duty on 24 January 1987, about two months after suffering a serious illness. He was twenty-seven when he fell. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Be’er Sheva. Survived by a wife and two children, parents, brothers and sisters. Yehuda is commemorated at the memorial site of the fallen of the Border Police at the Iron junction and at the memorial for the fallen police in Kiryat Ata.