The flags at the Knesset plaza were lowered this evening in the presence of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Knesset Sergeant-at-Arms Superintendent Yuval Chen, and the Knesset Guard.
Immediately afterward, the Speaker lit the memorial candle together with two bereaved families-the Makhteyev family and the father of Staff Sergeant Amit Friedman, of blessed memory.
Asaf Friedman, director of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and father of Staff Sergeant Amit Friedman, of blessed memory, shared his son’s story: “Amit was our middle child. He was a combat soldier in Battalion 932 of the Nahal Brigade. He completed a squad commanders’ course five weeks before he fell."
Amit was killed in battle in Tel Sultan in Rafah, on the very day hostages were rescued from the Gaza Strip. “During the pursuit of the cell, Amit was hit and did not survive. He was an amazing boy."
Alongside the Friedman family, members of the family of Senior Police Sergeant Uri Makhteyev, of blessed memory, who fell just two months ago, also took part in the ceremony. His father, Ronen Makhteyev, a deputy fire and rescue commissioner, spoke about his youngest son: “Uri was our youngest child. He was killed three weeks before his 19th birthday."
Ronen described the values that guided his son’s service: “His goal was to serve the country. The values that guided him were friendship and comradeship. When I asked him if it was hard for him, he would answer: ‘It’s hard for me, but nothing breaks me.’"
