Amichai Returned From The US To Serve In Gaza And Fell In Battle

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Sergeant First Class (Res.) Amichai Yisrael Yehoshua Oster (24) from Karnei Shomron fell in battle in the northern Gaza strip Monday.

Oster is the son of Dr. Howard Oster, deputy director of the Internal Medicine Division at Sourasky Medical Center, and Marcy Spiegel Oster, an editor at Ynetnews. Amichai left behind three sisters, Sarah, Emunah and Tova, and a brother named Jonathan, who is a soldier in southern Israel.

In an interview on Israeli radio, Dr. Oster eulogized his son and described his membership in Bnei Akiva and his volunteering with children suffering from cerebral palsy.

“It is really harsh, it’s something we knew that could happen but prayed wouldn’t happen, but it did happen and we are very pained.”

Amichai had completed his army service and was on a trip to the US when the war broke out. His commanding officer told him that he should wait to return because there was sufficient enlistment in his unit but Amichai insisted on coming back.

“His brother is serving in a tank unit and he said: “My brother is fighting and I’m not,” his father recalled. “I know he gave his everything as he always did. Amichai loved the Jewish people, the land of Israel and the Torah of Israel. He studied whatever interested him- nature, music, computers, photography, he always did what he could to excel- quietly and modestly.”