Hundreds of friends and relatives gathered at the Kfar Etzion Military Cemetery on Tuesday to pay final respects to Sergeant Shlomo Yakir Shrem, who fell in battle in Gaza a day earlier.
The head of the Otzem pre-military academy, Rabbi Rei Peretz, eulogized his student and addressed his family: "You raised a true angel, with a huge and amazing soul."
Shlomo's mother, Hindy, cried: "Please, give us the strength to keep going, for the family." She quoted a message that he sent her about his military activity: "What I'm doing is really good for me, we have to fight, to defeat evil."
She added, "Everyone loved you, with your smile, humility, and will to give to everyone. He would say thank you for every little thing. He wasn't able to just sit and do nothing. I am bleeding, and my heart is on fire. You were the light of our home. Time has stopped, I am torn between two worlds; between wanting to be with you, but I have children and a husband."
The fallen soldier's father, Shaul, eulogized: "You united the entire family. You loved the operational work in the army. Everything you did was with joy. You loved serving in the Armored Corps and were proud to be part of the 401st Brigade and fight for the State of Israel. You had no fear of getting hurt."
He added: "You didn't care what others thought about you, you were straight and stubborn when it came to Jewish law. Please, watch over us from above so we can get through this nightmare."
Shlomo was the son of Shaul and Hindy Shrem from Efrat's Rimon neighborhood. He is survived by three siblings.
Shrem fell in a tank explosion together with fellow soldiers in the 52nd Armored Corps Battalion, 401st Brigade, Staff Sergeant Shoham Menahem, aged 21, from Yardena, and Sergeant Yuliy Faktor, aged 19, from Rishon LeZion.
The incident occurred on Monday afternoon during an offensive by the 162nd Division on Jabaliya. For a reason that has yet to be investigated by the IDF, a large explosion occurred in the soldiers' Merkava tank. The tank commander, an officer, was severely wounded in the incident. According to one report, a malfunction caused a tank round to explode inside the turret.