Soldiers’ Remembrance Day show to feature Peretz interview

A decade ago, Peretz and brother Avishai were among siblings of fallen soldiers interviewed by director Gil Lesnik.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Eliraz Peretz 1998 (photo credit: Channel 2)
Eliraz Peretz 1998
(photo credit: Channel 2)
Among the programs to be screened on Channel 1 on Sunday and Monday in tribute to Israel’s fallen soldiers will be a documentary featuring an interview with Maj. Eliraz Peretz, deputy commander of the Golani Brigade’s Battalion 13, who fell in action during an exchange of fire in Gaza last month.
Approximately a decade ago, Peretz and his younger brother Avishai were among siblings of fallen soldiers interviewed by director Gil Lesnik for a Remembrance Day documentary.
The incentive for the program at the time was a general feeling that the bereavement of siblings had been overlooked in Remembrance Day ceremonies. The focus until then had always been on grieving parents, wives and children, with scant recognition of the impact of the loss on siblings. At that time, the Peretz brothers spoke about their feelings on losing their older brother, St.-Sgt Uriel Peretz, who was killed in Southern Lebanon in 1998.
In preparation for this year’s broadcast, Lesnik returned to the siblings he had interviewed as children and who have since grown into adults who served or are serving in the IDF.
Eliraz Peretz was killed before the second documentary was completed.Avishai Peretz, who also serves in the Golani Brigade, now mourns twobrothers.
The documentary will be screened at 9:30 p.m on Sunday, within theframework of the Mabat Sheni (second look) program.
Meanwhile an alternate commemoration – including a memorial concert byperformers such as Shlomi Shabat, David D’Or, Yehoram Gaon, YishaiLapidot and others, accompanied by the IDF orchestra – will take placeat Jerusalem’s International Convention Center (Binyamei Ha’uma) onSunday. The program will be broadcast live on Israel Radio’s Reshet Betfrom 8 p.m. on Sunday, and will be screened on Channel 2 at 3 p.m onMonday.