A new scenic overlook – named Ruach Aheret, or A Different Spirit – was inaugurated this week in Kiryat Arba, in memory of Major Benaya Sarel, Ahikam Amihai and David Rubin hy”d, three sons of Kiryat Arba who were close friends and who were killed in heroic circumstances.
The vista point was set up at the Givat Gal neighorhood, located near the town's industrial area, and overlooking the southern Mount Hevron area and the edge of the Negev desert. It was inaugurated in a ceremony attended by Malachi Levinger, Head of the Kiryat Arba-Hevron Council, Rabbi Dov Lior, and the families and friends of the fallen heroes.
Levinger said that “the establishment of this overlook outside the fences of Kiryat Arba-Hevron symbolizes two things – the extremely close friendship between David, Ahikam and Benaya; and the second thing – their love for the land, its paths, its hills and streams, with all of its spaces.”
Major Sarel, who was the commander of the Givati Brigade's Reconaissance Battalion, was killed in the course of Operation Protective Edge, in the incident in Rafiah in which a suicide terrorist blew himself up and the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin was abducted. First Sergeant Liel Gidoni was also killed in that incident.
Benaya met Ahikam Amihai at the Mekor Haim yeshiva, and they became inseparable. They were not very interested in their studies, and preferred to go hiking together. David Rubin, who also studied at the yeshiva, joined them in their numerous hikes.
When Benaya was in Platoon Commanders' Course, Amihai and Rubin were murdered. Both were soldiers on leave at the time. On Friday, December 28, 2007, Amihai and Rubin went hiking at Nahal Telem in southern Mount Hevron. They both served in elite units abd carried weapons. Some of the hike went through Area B, in which the Palestinian Authority is charge of civilian matters and the IDF takes care of security.
Terrorists who drove through the area shot David and Ahikam dead. Their friend, Naama Ohayon, 21, who went with them on the hike, managed to hide in the bushes and to direct rescue teams to the location after the attack.
According to Benaya, David and Ahikam met some Arabs during their hike and spoke with them in Arabic. A car arrived and its occupants greeted the Israelis. When they replied, the shots were fired at them. Ahikam was hurt and David managed to fire back and hit one of the terrorists. Another terrorist took Ahikam's gun and fired at David, eventually succeeding in killing him.
Rubin, who was 21, had served in the Shayetet 13 naval commando. Amihai, who was 20, a grandson of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Nerya, served in the Shaldag unit.