Shmidov, David

Ben Leonid and Natalia. He was born on April 1, 1981 in the small town of Reusa, Belorussia (former Soviet Union). A brother to Jacob, two years older than him, who was a role model for him. He drafted into the IDF, August 2, 1999, David was stationed in the infantry. Before his eyes, the goal was to serve, like his brother before him, as paratroopers, but during the tests he decided to give up and began the Givati ​​combat route. In September 2000, “tidal wave” (the “Al-Aqsa Intifada”) broke out. The terrorist attacks that swept the cities of Israel took many victims and thousands of casualties. Together with his company “Rotem” – the auxiliary company – David spent long periods in the Gaza Strip, and in the spring of 2002 he took part in Operation Defensive Shield – a massive operation carried out by the IDF in Palestinian cities throughout Judea and Samaria to damage the terrorist infrastructure. The unit took part in an operation to capture wanted persons, and continued to make a line along the Lebanese border. He had always been willing to help in the whole situation”One member of the company recalls:” Once we were all sitting on the ground during a training line, we were tired and it was very cold. David went around among the guys and covered us all with warm blankets and only afterwards took care of himself. “David strove to follow in the footsteps of his parents, who are building engineers, and his talent for painting and drawing combined with his great interest in architecture – the profession in which he saw his future. After graduating from the IDF in 2002, David began to work energetically to realize his dream of becoming an architect and was preparing for the acceptance exams for the architecture track at the Academy of Art and Design ” Bezalel “. He worked on preparing the portfolio, added sketches and built new models, and even drew a sketch of the Third Temple, which he dreamed of designing (July 9, 2006), David was killed in a battle in the southern Lebanese village of Qali’a, where his battalion received a mission to take control of Hezbollah strongholds near the village of Marjayoun in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon. The enemy identified the battalion and began its range with two 120 mm mortar barrels, and David, who was at the head of the force, was hit by the fifth mortar shell and was killed at the age of twenty-five. David left behind his parents, and brother. After his fall, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant.