“We had the privilege of raising you”

Farewell to the revered commander: Thousands came yesterday (Tuesday) to pay his last respects to Major (retd) Eyal Abneon of Hod Hasharon who was killed in the fighting in central Gaza.

Eyal, deputy company commander in the 121st Battalion, 8th Brigade, was killed in battle in the center of the Gaza Strip. Eyal, was a graduate of the 28th class (2017) at Hadrim High School majoring in history and social sciences, and the news of his death hit all his acquaintances and family members with great sadness.

Thousands of residents of Sharon came to the funeral procession to pay their last respects to him, and stood by the roadsides when his coffin was brought to the burial in the military section of the Neve Hadar cemetery in Hod Hasharon.

His father Abi eulogized him at the funeral: “My Eyal. On my last birthday you wrote that you would not forget how I jumped you to Gaza. For the hug I gave you and that you thought of me and my mother. My Eyal, in the vast space you left us, you will know that I had the privilege of raising you and being a father your”.

Sharon’s mother told about him: “Now I have nothing. They took my heart. He promised me that he would take care of himself and come back. He was the best brother, the best son. Even when he went to this hell, he reassured me that he would be fine. I didn’t think it would happen to him Something. Everything is planned with him, we didn’t plan it.”

His sister Neta Safda: “Eyal, my brother. How good you were. How you always sought to be good and do everything to the best. People would fall in love with that goodness. You always told me how special I was and that you were my back. How proud I was of you, how much I compared you. It’s a shame I didn’t tell you that anymore, so I’m telling you now how much I love you. How can you not be at my wedding?”

Eric Adib, a “Together Combat Fitness” instructor who was the late Eyal’s son paid tribute to him: “How many hours we had together on this square, how many times we would come here to visit Lior, whom you loved so much. Now you are so close to Lior and Ron, I hope you are now sitting upstairs and filling in gaps.

“Your modesty was great, I’ve always said that I’ve never met a person who has so many character traits at such a high level – smart, sensitive, an exemplary family member, a leader everywhere, responsible, hardworking, beautiful, modest and what’s more important to me to tell everyone what we lost tonight .

“At the age of 16.5, you came to “Yehedio” and told me I would be in the sailing team, no maybe, I wouldn’t try, like this, at the peak of confidence, you would send me pictures at 3:00 in the morning in January after you went swimming in the sea to prepare. Of course you joined the sailing team, in preparation you were injured and lost You had a hearing loss in your ear, pressure chamber treatment, steroids, no one believed you could finish the preparatory course, they didn’t really know you, you finished like a big man, then the army said you can’t continue in the army without hearing in one ear, they didn’t really know you, only God knows what You told the doctor and the triage officer so they could recruit you again, profile 97 to 504.

Then you asked to do what you are best at, to be a commander of people, they tried to pressure you and said, you want soldiers, not with us, they didn’t really know you, from there to the Nahal, combatant division, SMP, liberation.

“When father got sick, you decided that you would get a license for a truck to allow father to recover, what about you and the truck? I asked, don’t worry, you said, I also recruited some friends to help me. When the Maged told you that he was short of an MP and that he wanted you to return to the permanent position, you told him fine, even though you didn’t really want to, When I asked you why you said yes, you said – war, they need me, that’s how you’ve always been, wherever needed, you’re the first, a born leader, in the training of “Yehedio” you took an entire group on your back, you helped everyone and you were an undisputed leader and I was so proud .

“Even during the war it was important for you to come to visit, at the last formation you arrived at 5:00 in the morning, took the trainees for a run to the cemetery, stood them in front of Lior’s grave and told them about him and the meaning of the price. Now here we are saying goodbye to you, now I will have to take them And tell them about you, about the price and how much I loved you. I once told my mother that I wanted to adopt you, I loved you as if you were my son, we said that after the war you would come together with me and help me train the next generations of the youth, you told me I would wait after the war Go forever. Love.”