The four victims of Monday’s fatal friendly-fire incidents in Gaza were: Maj. Dagan Vertman, 31, of Maaleh Michmas; Capt. Yehonatan Netanel, 26, of Kedumim; St.-Sgt. Nitai Stern, 21, of Jerusalem; and Corp. Yusuf Muadi, 19, a Druze soldier from Haifa.
Capt. Yehonatan Netanel, 26, is survived by his wife Tziona and their 3-month-old daughter Maayan, as well as his parents and three siblings.
Yehonatan, known as Yoni, grew up in Jerusalem, studied in the Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav high school and the pre-military yeshiva in Eli, and became an IDF paratroopers company commander.
His father, Rabbi Amos Netanel, said, “A week ago, he was in our home for the Sabbath [the day the war began – ed.], and he expressed the hope that the People of Israel would be strong enough to wage this offensive. He said the army knows how to do it and can do it. He had a fellow officer from Ashkelon, and when they met before he went out to battle, Yoni told him, ‘Kassams are falling on you, and we’re coming to solve the problem.’ It was clear to him that that was what had to be done. We are happy that this was his mission, and we hope the army will continue along this path of strength with the confidence that this is what has to be done.”
A year and a half ago, Yoni was awarded his brigade’s top prize for excellence.
“He was amazing in his sincerity, his integrity, and his morality,” Yoni’s father said. “I met officers who were with him when they went into Gaza, and they said he gave off an air of joy, confidence, and strength, and everyone was affected by it. He gathered an amazing group of fighters around him.”
“When his commander asked him if he wasn’t afraid, Yoni said, ‘This is what we have been waiting for the whole time.’ … Regarding the fact that he was felled by friendly fire, it is important for us to emphasize that war is war, and no matter what, he fell in battle; he is considered holy and one who died for the Sanctification of G-d’s Name. We told the other officers that they must continue fighting with the same valor that they did until now.”
Maj. Dagan Vertman is survived by his parents, three brothers and a sister. He was a “man of Torah [who] believed in the future, the strength and the uniqueness of the Nation of Israel,” said those who knew him.
He studied in local schools in the Binyamin (Shomron) towns of Maaleh Michmas and Ofrah, then in the Merkaz HaRav high school, and later in Yeshivot Or Etzion and Har HaMor. He ultimately became a company commander, took off for two years to study in yeshiva, and was drafted for the current war ten days ago.
Nitai Stern, 21, of Jerusalem, was buried at the Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery on Tuesday afternoon. His mother cried out over her son’s grave, “It’s not logical that parents should bury their children. Let no more soldiers die, we have no more strength, it’s enough.”
Yusuf Muadi, 19, was buried in the Galilee Druze village of Yarch, his family’s hometown. His father said he blames no one, and that it was son’s fate to die in war.