St.-Sgt. Avihu Keinan was killed in September of 2003 in the town of el-Bureij in Gaza. He was killed in a terrorist ambush as he and fellow members of his elite IDF unit attempted to arrest senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Faris Shahin. He was 22 at the time of his death, and was survived by his parents and four sisters.
Avihu risked his life to arrest a single terrorist, Moshe Keinan said. "It was 'worth it' to the IDF to risk his life for the sake of that mission. Are you saying today that it's not 'worth it' to risk a single soldier (in captivity) for the sake of capturing hundreds of terrorists and keeping them in prison?” he asked.
He called on those protesting for Shalit's release to “stop it,” saying their actions encouraged terrorist release. The Shalit family was not the only one celebrating Rosh Hashana without their son, he said. Many families did not see their children on Rosh Hashana because their children fell in battle. “They cry silently and accept the price. They understand that there is a price that must be paid to defend the people,” he said.
Friends and family of Gilad Shalit held a protest earlier in the week, on Rosh Hashana, opposite the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem. Protesters ate meager food meant to represent the food given to Shalit by his terrorist captors. Shalit's father, Noam, apologized to his son “for not succeeding in making the decision-makers, and in particular Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, bring Gilad back home.”