Ilan was a combat officer despite suffering from asthma

By JPOST.COM STAFF
cow.article (photo credit: )
cow.article
(photo credit: )
Ilan Gabai, Yonatan Einhorn and Michael Levine, were killed in action during fighting in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Lieutenant Ilan Gabai Ilan, 22, grew up in Kiryat Tivon and attended the local school, Ort Greenberg. As a child, he was a high-achieving basketball player. Although he suffered from asthma, a condition he developed at a young age, he did everything he could to overcome this condition and volunteered for a fighting unit, eventually joining the IDF officers training course. Ilan had recently visited the family of his close friend in combat, Yiftah Schreier, who was killed last week in battle, also in southern Lebanon. The two had been commanders in the same company in the 101st battalion of the Paratroopers and Infantry unit. Ilan's peers described him as "an outstanding commander, soldier, student, and sportsman." "He was a special person who trained his soldiers well and aspired to lead his platoon to the top," they said. Ilan was a modest person, who always strived to achieve. In a letter written to the unit's training school, Ilan's soldiers said they appreciated him as a leader and respected him as a person. Ilan left behind his parents and three brothers. He will be laid to rest at the military section of the Kiryat Tivon cemetery on Wednesday at 5 p.m. St.-Sgt. Yonatan Einhorn Yonatan, 22, of Moshav Gimzo had many plans after his army discharge. He had bought an all-terrain vehicle and had not even managed to sit his driving test, his sister said. Yonatan loved to travel, and like many Israelis, had planned to travel immediately after the army. He had even started learning Spanish in preparation for his trip to South America. Yonatan will be laid to rest on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. on Mt. Hertzl in Jerusalem.