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Yonatan Evron

Yonatan Evron


Son of Talila and Avi, Yonatan was was born on August 12, 1985 in Givatayim. Brother to Itamar. When he was one and eight months old, he arrived with his parents to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, following his father’s work. Yonatan grew up here in primeval landscapes, virgin and wild, and here his personality crystallized as a lover of man and nature. Yonatan was a child’s delight, happy and self-disciplined, a “mother’s child” who shared his mother with everything and consulted her openly. He spent most of his childhood in Nairobi, studying in an English garden and an English school, and spent one year at the American school. The Israeli community in Nairobi was small and intimate, and the ties between its members were close, but Yonatan met and knew other children and adults of other religions, and became acquainted with many nationalities and cultures The encounter with such a special life on the African continent enriched his life and his inner world, assimilated values ​​of tolerance and acceptance of the different and the other, and gave him, of course, fluency in the English language. , Received a great embrace, the special character of life outside the back In his 2003 root work, Itamar told about his brother, the fan of the English football team Manchester United: “His room in Nairobi was decorated and painted In the colors of the group, and posters and the group’s flags along the walls. “In Jonathan’s home they spoke Hebrew, and twice a year the family came to visit Israel.In 1998, Jonathan celebrated the Bar Mitzvah and went to the Torah at Beit Daniel in Tel Aviv – the Center for Culture and Education of the World Union for Progressive Judaism The Reform. Yonatan was fourteen years old when the family returned to Israel, and spent four high school years at the Mikve Israel agricultural school in Holon, where he studied science. The reunion with the country was not simple at all; The disengagement from the Israeli friends in Nairobi, the transition to a different language and the Israeli mentality made it difficult for him to adapt, but with the help of Yair Ganton, the educator who had a close friend and with the help of his parents, he slowly integrated into the school. . Yair says: “… this is a guy with great ambition and motivation … He knew how to handle all the tasks, he did a full matriculation in the Hebrew profession, which was hard for him … he did not give up … a guy you see on him has something special, Strong internal. ” Yonantan – “Yoni” or “Johnny” by his friends, “Yonati” as his grandmother and family member Dalia called him – was a cute, smiling and pleasant young man. Sensitive, shy, modest, generous, and true friend. Now, when he found his place in the country, he rejoiced at the sharp change that had taken place in his life: compared to Nairobi, to meet his friends, he needed transportation and distances, was happy to meet more often with new school and neighborhood friends, go out to the movies and enjoy a sense of security and independence. Who was not used to it. His house was full of friends and his room was chanted with encouragement as they watched football and basketball together. Jonathan loved music very much and was constantly connected to it with his iPod. He was open to very different musical styles, listening to world music and ethnic music, rock music, “Beatles” songs and Israeli songs. During his years at Mikveh Israel High School, and on his travels in Israel, he was fascinated by the magical sights, the wonderful landscapes and the smells and colors of the earth. The values ​​on which he was educated inHis home – care and action for the community, the people and the state led him to decide to join the elite, combat and quality unit he could achieve, out of a desire to contribute and to realize his full potential. In order to prepare himself, he joined the “recruitment unit”, ran long runs and practiced in the gym. In the summer of 2003 Yonatan graduated with honors. Before his induction he managed to make a magical trip to Italy with his girlfriend, Efrat, with whom he had known many days of love and also flew for two vacations in Kenya. Yonatan joined the IDF on March 25, 2004, and when he was admitted to the Magellan unit after the formation of the Paratroopers, he was not happy with him. But Yonatan loved them very much and was connected to them like his brothers, and his religious friends in the team opened a window to the world of Judaism, and Yonatan was thrilled to discover the beauty of religion: “We are different, very different, but we found the commonality that prevails over everything. We all fly in the same direction, “said Oded Shilo, one of the team members, who described the long and arduous course of a year and eight months as one of the toughest in the IDF – physical and Mentally, Yonatan moved calmly, resolutely, and without a single word of complaint. His commanders identified his special abilities and skills and sent him to a combat paramedics course. In September 2004, Yonatan completed the course and returned to the unit and the staff. “An excellent paramedic, one of the best in the unit, a person with a higher personal morals than usual, who has peace and reconciliation in mind wherever he goes – the symbol of humanity,” says Ben Berditz, B, the team icon. Thanks to his maturity, responsibility and dedication, Yonatan was appointed to serve as the team’s deputy, acting deputy commander, and filled the role in a respectful manner. With his charming smile, he quietly and modestly knew how to use his friends even in times of crisis and pressure, and led them to achievements. His excellence in all fields of endeavor, striving for victory, investment and team motivation earned Jonathan in September 2005, on the last year of his life, as an outstanding soldier. “He is an outstanding soldier, very smart and reliable, who is very eager to succeed in the team and is willing to spend days and nights to give without having to accept, always doing first, volunteer and quietly, modestly and modestly.” Toward the end of the route, Yonatan’s mother initiated a book for the staff with greetings from each of the parents. “And you – like all your teammates – are persistent, determined, understanding the deep essence of the path, ability and winning all the difficulties! … We are proud In your personal achievements and in the excellent abilities that you demonstrated all along … “Yonatan was a courageous and devoted fighter, yet a great believer in the importance of moral values, humanity and tolerance. His ability to respect any person who has returned only one day has not yet been killed, when he prevented the injury of a wanted terrorist. Ten days before the official end of the training program, Yonatan was killed in the course of Operation Magellan against terrorist infrastructures during the arrest of an active wanted ” In the village of Marka in the Jenin District, who was identified as a suspicious figure, and was shot in the head by a helicopter, but was critically injured and shortly afterwards died of his wounds. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Rishon Letzion, leaving behind his parents and brother after he fellHis father added his son’s name to his name, and was named since Yonatan. “Yonatan, a limb from our organs, a flesh of our flesh, how you were picked up by a murderer who is a son of injustice … You would be and will be a model for a good friend, for a good heart, for a person who cares, a person who is willing to give and give of his time and everything he has to others. We have learned from you something about professionalism, trustworthiness, love and friendship, as a human being … You were a warrior of justice, a warrior of morality, a warrior of peace. We promise to continue your war. At the end of the shiva, in a moving ceremony on the peak of Mount Avdat, Yonatan’s parents and brothers received his warrior’s pin. At the end of the ceremony, Yonatan’s staff and commanders were invited to the family’s home, where they were given the parents “Lederman” with the words “Yonatan Evron 2.11.2005” engraved on it. It was the fulfillment of Jonathan’s request from his father before his fall. A few days before the thirtieth anniversary of his fall, in the presence of all the parents of the soldiers on the crew, Yonatan’s parents gave the young fighters the final book of the route, with a transparent page describing the battle and the date of its fall. On the shirts at the end of the track, his teammates printed the words of Ehud Banai’s song: “Yonatan Evron, Angels of Birds Above You Follow Your Steps.” “When I heard the news, I felt proud of what had happened, a feeling that I could not describe in words, the moments when I wanted to be a combatant, a feeling that you were helping and guarding the people. I feel whole with myself that for the three years I have been giving my country my duty, feeling that in return the army will give me a perspective of life and experience that I can not forget. ” “What makes me weak is the thought of Mother, about you and Itamar … What if … I’ll feel guilty if something terrible happens, love, Johnny.” The father continued: “Yonatan was killed in your faith, you were a man and you were given, God gave you, God took you, you were whole, this is the end, this is the beginning …” Many are the words written about Jonathan and many of the stories told about him. The farewell letters and obituaries were arranged in three booklets bearing the name “Yonatan. “If you know how much you have been valued in your life, how much do you value your death, you will appreciate the enormity of the pain and sadness that is derived from your being gone, taken to heavenly treasures, as befitting the prince of your seat in the palace of a king, “A flower named Yoni / This is a unique flower, a unique and unique flower, a colorful flower, with twenty petals, a flower of rare species that blossoms and blooms all year round. / / A flower with deep roots that suck from the water / the depths of the earth … / / I sucked from the flower of this flower. / From the field he was the sweetest / And I sucked back from Now this flower withers, dried up, and I have nothing left to suckle, but the taste will remain in my mouth forever. ” The family is working on Jonathan’s commemoration in many factories, and for this purpose established the “Kol Yonatan” association. In March 2006, the “Magalan” Festival of the Unit was performed by the “Shotei Hanevua” band, which Yonatan loved very much, as a tribute to his memory and to his friend, Yosef Goodman, who was killed in a parachute accident. Every year, on the Friday before Memorial Day, the family, together with the management of the Mikve Israel agricultural school, holds a torch race and a navigation competition in memory of Yonatan. In the race held in April 2006, Etti Rotlevy, the family member and Efrat’s mother, ShYonatan: “June, you have all the same dimensions and character traits of inner and outer beauty … You were proud not only for your family, who loved and embraced you so much, but also for the school and the many friends who surrounded you … You knew how to explain your opinions, But you also knew how to accept … You knew how to be determined, but also sensitive … You also loved life and life loved you … You won love and love and we were privileged to love you … We promise you that we will continue to be together … ” The brother, at the ceremony marking the Memorial Day for IDF Fallen Soldiers in the Scouts Movement: “… Half a year since I opened my eyes to that frightening morning, and since then my eyes have opened. As if I had lived with my eyes closed. … There are those who will say that the strongest thing in life is death. I say that the most powerful thing in death is life. The life after. And there is life after. Since Yonatan’s death I have learned a lot. To ask questions, not to take things for granted, to love and to appreciate the life and the successes in it … “In September 2006, fifty of Jonathan’s friends were invited to the unit for a meeting with author Ron Leshem, who spoke to them about his book” If There is a Garden of Eden ” “He is no longer.” On the first anniversary of Jonathan’s fall, Yogev named the team a song in his memory, based on the song of Hannah Szenes “Happy Blessing”: “… Happy is the match that died and in his life saved the lives of children and babies. / Blessed are the match with his simplicity, / His modesty, / Blessed is the match that he fought out of faith in the righteousness of his way. / Blessed is the match that has ceased to show us what a warrior of morality, / Blessed match that taught us what love, / both tongue and stranger. / / Blessed are the hearts that gave their lives for the people and the land and you among them, / Blessed are the hearts who continue on their way and draw the courage of their heroism … “After the memorial the family held an” open house. “The visitors watched a photo gallery, A song that excited Yonatan especially, and listened to his favorite music in his room: Yonatan’s friends and staff received a wooden figurine from the parents of the unit’s pin.In March 2007, a Gala evening was held in Miami, Two Jonathan scholarships were awarded to Magellan fighters as part of the “Impact” project of Friends of the Association in the United States. Friends of the Miami Association donated funds to establish a welfare center for Magellan fighters whose cornerstone was laid during the shiva. In the same month, in March 2007, at the ceremony of the release of Jonathan’s team, the family gave the unit a warrior’s pin, carved from African wood, made by an artist from Kenya. During that year, the family designed a postcard, distributed in the annual memorial service to all of Yonatan’s lovers, loved ones and acquaintances, who share their experiences and memories with Jonathan. In 2007, the parents also initiated the project “Walking in the Footsteps of Yonatan” – tours and encounters related to Yonatan’s life and reflecting the mosaic of his life, his character and his personality. The first trip was to the Gilboa, which overlooks Jenin, the place where Jonathan fell. The trip was in the spirit of the biblical story of Jonathan, the son of King Saul, and his death on the Gilboa in the last war against the Philistines. At this time, Itamar, the brother, read “David’s Lamentation.” The following year an excursion to the hills of Jerusalem took place. Talila’s eulogy at the ceremony marking the two-year anniversary of her son’s death: “… the journey of nothingness continues … … and in all this nothingness there is another life, there is construction, there is creation and growth, there are strengths that the tears of pain subside for a moment and the dampness is of excitement and Three new pigeons were born, with the image of our Yonatan standing before the eyes of their parents, in an abstract mixture of the end and the beginning, of some from nothingness, of a new life out of the death of love,Two sons in Israel and one daughter in Africa … “Yonatan’s memory was posted on the website of the Mikveh Israel agricultural school, and on other sites there were many responses from surfers who told about the beloved and special person they knew. The “Magellan” organization, which was Jonathan’s first casualty in operational activity, dedicated a memorial page to her website: http://www.maglan.org/apage/15518.php “Jonathan Avenue” – Twenty And two cypress trees and one almond tree – like the years of Yonatan – were planted in “Mikveh Israel.” The mother explained: “We chose tall, upright trees, evergreen and long-lived. “Trees in Yonatan’s memory were also planted in the” Children’s Forest “of the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael) forests,” in his life he was modest, quiet, confident and especially able to embrace the different and the different in his surroundings and in each of us. ” These words, written by the father, were printed on parchment, with notes and poems written in memory of Yonatan.

The following people have requested to be notified whenever this hero is honored

  • Name: טלילה ואבי
    Relationship: Mother

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