Zubotaro, Yaakov-Israel

Yaakov, son of Tova and Kopel, was born on July 16, 1936, in Botosan, Romania, and immigrated to Israel with his family in 1951. He studied in an elementary school in Romania and later studied for six months in Tel Aviv, with a carpentry track. Yaakov, who was known by his acquaintances as “Yankele”, had a difficult childhood after his father died. When the family immigrated to Israel, they first lived in Ramle and then moved to Jaffa. After learning carpentry, he went to work and supported his mother. At first he worked as a motorcycle repair technician and later worked in a metalwork shop in Tel Aviv and at the “Roter” factory, an institute for radio boxes in Tel Aviv. Before he was drafted into the IDF, he worked as a tire repairman in Petach Tikvah and Tel Aviv, he had a collection of key chains and he hung him on the wall of his home, he was kind and always willing to help his fellow workers. To the IDF at the end of January 1956 and was assigned to the Engineering Corps. After basic training and after studying in a Hebrew course, his position was set as a level and he was assigned to a field battalion of combat engineering. During his service he participated in Operation Kadesh. His discharge certificate indicated that he had been a good soldier and had fulfilled all his duties to the satisfaction of his superiors. After completing his regular service, he was assigned to reserve duty as a platoon in a combat engineering company. After the liberation he worked in renewing tires, and later in the building in various places. In 1959 he married a wife and the couple lived in Jaffa. He recently worked as a tire repairman and stands out at a factory in Tel Aviv. During the Six-Day War, he participated in battles in the Suez Canal area and was wounded in a vehicle on a mine. Shrapnel penetrated his back but he did not tell his mother about it, so as not to worry, and even swore his wife not to reveal anything to the family. When the Yom Kippur War broke out, Ya’akov settled in his unit and was sent to Sinai. On the 5th of Tevet 5734 (30.12.1973), when he was carrying out mines leaving west of the Suez Canal on the Taza-Ismailia axis, he was hit by a series of shootings in the exchange of fire with the Egyptians and killed and brought to rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. A letter of condolence to the bereaved family was written by the commander of the unit: “Yaakov was a devoted and outstanding soldier and a favorite of his comrades and commanders alike. He fulfilled the tasks assigned to him with honors and with admirable courage.” His wife made a donation to commemorate his name on a marble plaque that was placed in the Beit Ya’akov synagogue” Sha’arei Rachamim “in Petach Tikva.