Private Dov Premat, who was only 17 years old when he was killed in the War of Independence, had been classified for 78 years as an IDF fallen soldier whose burial place was unknown-until today.
As part of an investigation by the IDF’s Missing Persons Unit, it was determined that Fermat was buried in a mass grave at Maoz Haim together with 16 other IDF soldiers who fell in the same war.
The IDF stated that Company A of the 11th Battalion of the “Oded" Brigade, in which Dov served, moved up to Malkiya on June 1, 1948, to replace a Palmach force that had captured the area three days earlier.
On June 5 at noon, the battle for the defense of Malkiya began. The company-deployed from east of Malikiya, through the customs house north of the village, and in the “camp" area and the Tree Hill west of it, as well as within the village itself-faced a superior enemy force: Lebanese infantry supported by armored vehicles, which attacked the defenders from three directions.
The company suffered heavy casualties, both killed and wounded. Under intense enemy fire, parts of the force retreated from their positions toward the village, where the company headquarters was located. During the withdrawal, fallen soldiers were left behind in the field. According to the IDF, Dov was likely hit on "Tree Hill," and his body remained at the hilltop, about three meters from a shallow position that had been there. The squad defending Tree Hill retreated toward the village near nightfall, taking with them only Shayke Rodoy, who had been wounded.
From the battle of Malkiya on June 5, 1948, the bodies of Shmuel Bernstein, Yaakov Leibovitz, Shmuel Moldavsky, Yitzhak Glick, and Shlomo Kron have still not been located.
The IDF’s Chief Human Resources Officer and Head of the Casualties Division, Brigadier General Edna Ilia, said: “The IDF and the Missing Persons Unit have been working and investigating cases of missing soldiers and fallen troops whose burial places have been unknown for many years. This stems from the IDF’s moral duty and obligation to bring its fallen to burial in Israel. It is our duty to return those who fell for the state. In a moving meeting on the eve of Passover, we gathered to present to the family of Dov Fermat, of blessed memory, the findings of the investigation, which determined that Dov was buried after his fall in battle in the mass grave at Maoz Haim on November 18, 1948. His remains had been transferred there from a temporary mass grave of Palmach fighters, who had been buried by the enemy on Tree Hill in Kibbutz Malkiya. It is a privilege for us to be part of an army that does not rest even after many years, and works to bring closure to the families of the fallen."