The annual memorial ceremony for the fallen soldiers of the ‘Commando’ Division (89) was held last night (Tuesday) in Modi’in, headed by the Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, and attended by the Commander of the Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the Commander of the ‘Ha’esh’ Division (98), Brig. Gen. Meni Liberty, the Head of the Infantry and Paratrooper Corps, Brig. Gen. Omer Cohen, and the Commander of the ‘Commando’ Division (89), Col. M, in the presence of bereaved families, past and present commanders and fighters of the division.
The representative of the bereaved families, Ziyon Saadia, father of Sgt. Liran Saadia, may he rest in peace, said: “We are all here, a family bound together by a covenant of blood and longing, of mission and heroism. Twenty years have passed since the Second Lebanon War, since the day our son, Liran, fell in battle in Maroun al-Ras along with four of his friends. Twenty years is a lifetime. But for a bereaved family, time takes on a different meaning. We, who live in Kiryat Shmona, know well the meaning of the words ‘to defend the home.’ In the last three years, so many families have joined the division’s bereaved family. Each of them has lost a world. Each of them has their own unique story.”
“But when we hear the stories, we discover again and again a thread that runs through them. They came from all parts of the country and all parts of Israeli society, from the periphery and the big city, from the kibbutz and the settlement, with the cap and with the kippah. Different faces, different life stories, but a deep partnership in the same values. Fighters and commanders who were the first to report and the last to leave. Young people who understood, each in their own way, what a mission means. And we, the older families, listen to these stories and recognize something familiar in them.”
“We recognize Liran and his friends in them. We recognize the fallen soldiers of the units and the division throughout the generations in them. The faces change. The names are added. The years pass. But the values are passed down from generation to generation. And alongside the great pain, a bereaved family learns over the years that the connection with the unit does not end on the day the son falls. For twenty years, the Egoz unit has walked with us. Commanders change. Fighters complete their training and are discharged. New generations arrive. But the connection remains.”
The Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, spoke: “Today we commemorate one hundred and seventy-one (171) fallen soldiers of the ‘Commando’ Division throughout the generations. A few days ago, we marked three years since the October 7th attack – the day the IDF failed in its supreme mission. It was also the day when many acts of heroism by fighters, commanders, and civilians were revealed, among them the fighters of ‘Commando’ in regular and reserve service, who rushed to defend the communities and civilians. They moved forward to the centers of fighting and acted with valor to save lives.”
“I closely followed this fighting – the battle and the decisive action taken by the brigade on the Ali-Taher ridge will be written and remembered as a milestone in the history of the IDF and the entire war. Throughout the months of fighting, the noble mission of returning our hostages was before the eyes of the ‘Commando’ fighters. The IDF’s tenacious fighting and the operational pressure on Hamas led to the return of our living and deceased hostages home. Today, on the anniversary of their return in Operation ‘Returning to Their Borders,’ we remember the moments of reunion with their families. Alongside this, we carry the pain of loss and the memory of the fighters who fell for the mission and did not live to see their return.”
“You, the families, carry their memory every day, and their absence is ever-present. Some of you received the news in recent years, and some have lived in its shadow for decades. We cannot mend the fracture, but it is our duty to continue to stand by your side along the way, to embrace and support. This duty does not diminish with the passing of years. You will forever be part of the ‘Commando’ family and the IDF family.”
The Commander of the ‘Commando’ Division (89), Col. M, said in his speech: “Your sons, fallen soldiers who lead the way in the journey of a people and a state, who did not return from the battlefield and from operations, have become our guides. They illuminate and warn us of the difficult paths. We learn from the chapters of their lives. 171 soldiers of the ‘Commando’ Division have fallen over the years in Israel’s wars, in training, and in routine. Ten of them in the past year. Each of them was a world unto himself. For his family and for his unit mates. Soldiers, fighters, and commanders who loved their people, were loyal to their mission, out of a sense of mission and sacrifice, and with hearts full of love for humanity and the land.”
“A month ago, we completed our mission in Lebanon on the Ali-Taher ridge. As I walked among you during the mission, I heard the call of ‘Hineni’ (Here I am). I saw it in your eyes, I felt it in the sweat dripping from you, and I recognized a spirit hovering above you. Dear families, we must grow and become like them, like your sons, who walked among us and were our friends, commanders, and subordinates, but at the same time, they were an example to us of those who fulfill in their actions the values they believed in and by which they grew. May the memory of the fallen be blessed.”