The IDF Spokesperson's Unit confirmed on Sunday morning that Staff Sergeant Yonatan Aharon Greenblatt, aged 21, from Beit Shemesh, succumbed to severe injuries he sustained during combat in the southern Gaza Strip on July 20.
Greenblatt served as a soldier in the Shaked Battalion of the Givati Brigade. He was in the past a student at the Neve Dekalim hesder yeshiva.
Last week, he suffered serious injuries from an antitank missile in Gaza. Over the course of Shabbat, Greenblatt succumbed to his wounds.
His relative, Major (res.) Eliav Turgeman, mourned: "Blessed is the true Judge! My heart is torn and bleeding, our relative Yoni Greenblatt, may G-d avenge his blood, Yonatan Aharon the son of Yisraela, returned his soul to the Creator after a week of fierce struggle, his heart went silent on the holy Sabbath, of the Torah portion of Pinhas, when it is written (Numbers 25:11-12), that he 'zealously avenged Me among them .... Therefore, say, I hereby give him My covenant of peace.'"
"Yoni was a child of light and strength, a student at the hesder yeshiva in Ashdod, full of sweetness, and a twin brother to our beloved Arel (a student at the yeshiva in Dimona). He sacrificed his life during this war, with courage, with the love of the sons of this amazing generation have for our beloved land, for the nation of Israel. In the past week, the heavens were torn apart with prayers, we felt as if the entire nation was standing by our side to give hope, to connect prayers to healing.
"The prayers did not go to waste - they went to the treasury of prayers, to heal and bring closer to the Creator, blessed be He, for light and a closer salvation. Yoni, please be a righteous advocate for us. Thank you, and thanks to the amazing generation which you belong to."
