Yisraeli (Brunner), Avraham

Avraham, son of Miriam and David, was born on April 8, 1948 in Tel Aviv. He studied at the “Yehuda Maccabee” and “Ahavat Zion” elementary schools in Tel Aviv. He spent one year at the agricultural school in Nahalal, and later attended the Hugim High School in Haifa. Abraham – who was known by all Avi – was an outstanding student and especially he did well in the natural sciences and biology and loved animals. He loved the country very much, and ever since he was a boy he has always traveled and toured its paths and enjoyed its landscapes. He was a member of the Mahanei Haolim youth movement and a member of the Israel Tennis Association, and when he was thirteen, he won silver cups in tennis competitions for youth. He studied and found time for trips, sailing, active and enthusiastic participation in folk dance, nature and animal collection, especially reptiles, for the Biology Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Avraham was drafted into the IDF in mid-November 1966 and assigned to the Armored Corps. He successfully completed various courses in the corps and became commander of the Centurion tank. During the Six-Day War he participated in battles in Latrun, Ramallah, and Jenin, and during the War of Attrition he fought in the borders of Jordan and Syria. After he was discharged from regular service, Avraham was accepted as a student to the pre-academic preparatory program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and then went to study at the Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot. As a university student, he purchased a Galit sailboat with his own money and devoted most of his spare time to sea sailing. He was also a swimming enthusiast. He was an outstanding student and during his undergraduate years worked in research at the Volcani Institute for Agriculture. His specialty and interest was feeding cattle with milk substitutes. He wanted to find a way to include cattle in the food, cheaper types of food that were common in Israel and that were not widely used. Shortly before the war, Avraham and some of his friends came up with the idea of ​​settling in a young moshav, to engage in cattle and domestic animals. Abraham was the accelerating force, the thinker and organizer of a plan that did not materialize. Avraham successfully completed his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Agriculture and began his master’s degree at the Volcani Institute. In the Yom Kippur War, when he enlisted in his unit, Avraham’s concern was what would become of his calves. But his friends cared for the animals. In the war itself, Avraham was a tank commander. He passed the course of the braking battles and the counterattack on the Golan Heights and took part in the counterattack that broke out into Syrian territory. On October 12, 1973, Avraham was hit and killed when his tank was hit by a missile fired by the Syrians during the conquest of Beit Jann. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Haifa. Survived by his parents and brother. After his fall, he was promoted to First Sergeant. Articles, memoirs and memoirs of Avraham were published in a booklet of the Hebrew University, in the publication of the research director of the Ministry of Agriculture and in the book of his department. On March 17, 1975, a research fellowship was awarded to him to commemorate his memory, and Avraham’s friend was awarded a scholarship to the Volcani Institute in Beit Dagan.