A passionate leader with a perfect smile who was filled with love for her
friends and family: That’s how Hila Bezaleli’s friends and family want the
country to remember her.
The 20-year-old soldier from the Jerusalem
suburb of Mevaseret Zion was killed on Wednesday afternoon when a light rigging
system collapsed onto soldiers rehearsing for the Independence Day celebration
at Mount Herzl.
Bezaleli was killed at the scene and four others were
injured, one critically. She was buried on Mount Herzl late on Wednesday night,
the very place where she was to perform next week.
She dreamed of being a
doctor, and was chosen as one of the most outstanding medics in the army to
participate in the Independence Day ceremonies at Mount Herzl.
Mount
Herzl holds a special place in the family’s heart, friends said, as Bezaleli’s
mother, Sigalit, has worked as an administrator at the site for 16
years.
“This isn’t the first time something like this has happened,
similar things happened before and only by a miracle there wasn’t a tragedy,”
Sigalit Bezaleli told the media on Thursday.
“These people just care
about the money that they make, they don’t care about doing professional work.
For no reason they endangered soldiers, for no reason they took my
daughter.”
A police investigation is focusing on gross negligence by the
company responsible for building the light rigging system, which may not have
had the proper permits.
Sigalit Bezaleli was at Mount Herzl when the
lighting fixture collapsed, and watched the paramedics try in vain to save her
daughter’s life. She fainted when they pronounced her dead.
Bar Sitton,
Hila Bezaleli’s friend from high school, recalled the bitter irony of the
situation, since Bezaleli herself was a volunteer with Magen David Adom for
years.
“She saved dozens of lives, but they couldn’t save her life,”
Sitton told The Jerusalem Post.
Bezaleli’s friends and family want the
ceremony next week to be dedicated to her memory, but they do not want it to be
canceled.
“We’re an independent country, and it’s important for there to
be a ceremony, we want there to be a ceremony,” Sitton said. “But we won’t rest
and we won’t stop until the murderers of Hila Bezaleli [are brought] to
justice.”
In her high school yearbook from Boyer High School in
Jerusalem’s Bayit Vagan neighborhood, students commended Bezaleli’s altruistic
spirit.
“If there was a Boyer Oscar ceremony, Hila would definitely win
the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award,” her yearbook entry read.
“MDA and
representative to the local council are just part of the long list of her
activities, which is why you probably haven’t seen her at school
lately.”
The second of four children and the only daughter, Bezaleli also
played guitar. She was chosen for the prestigious LEAD leadership development
program in 10th grade. She was elegant and poised, and a passionate Zionist,
Sitton remembered.
“And she was incredibly funny,” he added. “That’s
something I will never forget.”