A large crowd today (Wednesday) accompanied the late Maj. Gen. (res.) Uriah Sarousi, who drowned in the Jordan River yesterday while rescuing his son, to his resting place on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Sarousi, 48, from the community of Har Bracha in Samaria, left behind a wife and eight children.
His commander, Lt. Col. Hezi Nehemiah, eulogized him: "You didn't need many words to leave a mark, you were simply present. You acted out of a mission to save lives as a way of life. A devoted father to your children and a pillar within the community. You always stood first without hesitation in Gaza and Lebanon. A figure of values with a big heart."
His young son Noam said in his tearful eulogy for his father: "Dear father, I will miss you. I will do everything you did, study Torah and continue your path. I love you. Thank you for everything you did for me."
The tragic incident occurred yesterday afternoon, when Sarousi was on a short leave from his reserve duty with his family.
While spending time in the Jordan River, Uriah noticed that one of his sons was being swept away by the strong current and was in distress. Without hesitation, he jumped into the raging water to save his son.
The son was eventually rescued by his older brother, but the father was swept away by the current and disappeared from the sight of his family. Fire and rescue teams from the Galil-Golan station, together with the Northern District's Special Rescue Unit (Yalam), conducted a frantic search in complex current conditions.
After extensive searches, Uriah was found hundreds of meters from the drowning site, unconscious, and rescue forces were forced to declare his death.
The late Uriah Sarousi was a respected reserve soldier who worked on developing technological solutions designed to save the lives of soldiers on the battlefield. The Samaria Regional Council and the Har Bracha community received the news with astonishment and supported the family in its difficult time.
