Shoham, Yigal

Yigal ben Batya and Haim was born on the 25th of Elul, September 10, 1928, in Moshav Ein Ganim near Petah Tikva. He was of a quiet, modest nature, and his friends loved and admired him. At an early age he joined the Haganah and at the age of 17 joined the Nutras. When the War of Independence broke out in Israel after the UN General Assembly decided to divide the country into two states, he enlisted in the Alexandroni Brigade and completed a course for officers in Netanya. Yigal chose to join a combat battalion instead of remaining at the base as a guide. He fought in the battles of Kfar Sava and Qalqiliya. With the entry of the Arab Legion into the war, Jerusalem’s situation worsened and the road to it was cut off by the Legion’s Latrun system. The breakthrough was planned for Operation Ben-Nun A. His battalion reinforced the 7th Brigade for this operation and was tasked with conquering Latrun. The battalion encountered better enemy forces and had to retreat. In the midst of the harsh retreat, he fell on the 17th of Iyar 5708, May 26, 1948. On the 25th of Cheshvan 5710, November 17th 1949) he was laid to rest at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.