Aviel (Avi), son of Hannah and Shaul of blessed memory, was born on May 25, 1947 in Haifa. He studied at the “Hugim” school in Haifa, where he completed his high school studies, and in the summer of 1965 he successfully passed the matriculation exams. The date of Avi’s birth, the fifth of Iyar, was a symbolic date for him: From the beginning of his life he had been closely linked to the state, which had been established when he was one year old. The feeling of “caring” about the people and the country was expressed in Aviel’s actions and studies. As a boy he had a strong desire to participate in any activity. He was a member of the Scouts movement, took part in the activities of the drama club, played the recorder, went on trips and spent the festivities, read and studied diligently. “We said about him that he lights the candle at both ends,” his mother said. Aviel was admired by his teachers at school and excelled in history lessons. He was also active in the Gadna, and served as the Gadna commander in his school. There was a special affection to the earth. He dreamed of being a farmer and spent most of his holidays among friends in Nahalal. son of was devoted to his parents and a brother who loved his sister Danielle. When he was in the bosom of his family, he radiated from the inner light of those present. He was a handsome young man, mature and serious in his approach to life. Aviel was drafted into the IDF in late September 1965 and volunteered to serve in the Nahal Brigade. “It was only natural,” his mother explained. “The nucleus symbolized its ties to the homeland and the land.” My father spent some time at Kibbutz Revivim. When one of his friends was killed accidentally, Avi saw a duty and the right to publish a pamphlet in memory of the fallen friend. In this act he tried to fight with the indifference that took over his teammates. In the 1967 war he fought in an armored unit and was awarded the “Six Day War”. In the fall of 1968, Avi was discharged from the regular army service and immediately began his studies in the history department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He studied diligently and worked as a drama instructor at Carmit boarding school and as a counselor at the Denmark School and at the School for the Blind in Jerusalem. In the summer of 1969 he chose to guide a group of students from England who came to visit Israel. A year later he was sent by the Jewish Agency to a Zionist camp in the United States. In this work and in other works he undertook, cultivated and increased his ties with Jews in the Diaspora and with Zionist bodies. In the winter of 1970, while still a student, he took part in a course for news editors on behalf of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. He successfully completed this course, and even completed his graduate studies with very good grades. Aviel was hired by the Foreign Ministry and in August 1971 married his girlfriend. When the couple returned from a honeymoon trip to Spain, there was no father, Shaul, among the living. “Aviel hurt Father’s death,” said his sister Danielle, “despite the fact that Avi was ill for a long time, the death worker was very difficult.” Avi continued his studies in the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University. He served as a teaching assistant in the department and was privileged to work with Prof. Friedlander, whom he admired and admired. Under the influence of Moro, he chose to conduct a study on the rise of the Nazis to power and the role of the SA in the German apparatus. In the summer of 1972 he left for Germany as part of a meeting of Israeli students with German students. During the meeting, delicate questions were discussed, and the past and prospects for the future were discussed. With the encouragement of his teachers, Prof. Friedlander and Dr. Aharonson, Avi turned to academic institutions in Germany to allow him to complete his doctorate there, and his mother said that Dr. Aharonson’s character, which combined work in the IBA with academic research, He wanted to send articles to the radio during his studies in Germany. On the eve of Rosh Hashana 5734 Avi asked to join the Knesset elections campaign,In the 1969 elections, Aviel took part in Knesset activity and received a letter of thanks and appreciation from Supreme Court Justice Haim Cohen. “The road rushed to him, and he was talented to run forward, a warm person, a person who cared, a man who did not have the time to fulfill all his dreams and wishes,” his friends said. When the Yom Kippur War broke out, Avi was drafted and sent to the Sinai front. He fought there as an armored patrolman and took part in the braking battles against the Egyptians. On October 22, 1973, he broadcast from the Jebel Ataka area to the Israel Broadcasting Authority, an article on the cease-fire on the front. The next day, in the afternoon, his vehicle boarded a mine on the Fayyad axis. My father was thrown from him like a torch burning for a distance of a few meters. He was alive, but unconscious. For three weeks he fought for his life at Tel Hashomer Hospital, but the doctors’ efforts to save him failed. On the 16th of Av 5716 (16.11.1973) Aviel died and was brought to eternal rest in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl. Survived by a mother and sister. In a letter of condolence to the bereaved mother, then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan wrote: “Aviel was a devoted soldier and an excellent friend, and he was fond of his commanders and comrades in arms.”
