In Iconic Picture, 5 Fathers Memorialize Their Sons Who Fell On Simchas Torah

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — It was a classic military picture. Five friends, members of the Golani brigade’s 51st battalion, lounge in front of a tank and pose for a picture. The friends are serving on the southern border near Gaza, a border which has been relatively quiet in the aftermath of the Shield and Arrow operation in May 2023. Most of the recent terrorist activity had been in Judea and Samaria, and most of the IDF’s efforts were invested in that region.

One of the soldiers was Dvir Lisha. He was the third-born son of Nava and Nissan Lisha, with whom he was evicted from Neve Dekalim in Gush Katif in the “disengagement” at the age of three. Dvir had been assigned to the Zikim base north of Gaza, where he could almost see the vistas of his childhood a few kilometers away.

Dvir Lisha HyD

But Dvir, a graduate of yeshivat Oz V’Emuna in Tel Aviv, had other worries at the Zikim base. He could literally see Hamas preparing for war.

In the weeks and the days preceding the attack, he shared his concerns about what was happening across the border with his family.

“He saw their maneuvers and preparations on the cameras and reported them. In the main, he spoke with his sister and said they’d be coming by the thousands and hundreds of people would die, that a massacre would happen,” Nissan recounts.

Dvir documented his warnings in his last chats on WhatsApp. On October 3, four days before the war began, he posted a video of Hamas terrorists training on the border across from Netiv Ha’Asara. In his family’s group, he wrote sarcastically: “Anyone looking for an attraction on the intermediate days of Sukkot is invited to the Hamas fence for a stunning display of uncommon military capability. Recommended for families and children aged 11 up.” Another photo, lifted from the intelligence cameras’ screenshots, shows twenty or so Hamas terrorists standing in a roll-call, equipped with weapons and vests and ready for action. They even had a photographer to take their picture.

תיעוד ששלח רב”ט דביר לישה הי”ד מגולני שנפל בקרב בשמחת תורה, צילם את התארגנות החמאס והתריע שבוע לפני הטבח pic.twitter.com/myrCJ1Llor

— בז news (@1717Bazz) January 18, 2024

A clip taken by Dvir just a week before the Hamas attack shows their preparations for war as he saw them from his base

Despite the warnings of Dvir as well as the female observers stationed on the border, the commanding officers failed to see the signs, failed to take even the most basic steps, failed to protect their soldiers. Too many of them and their soldiers paid the ultimate price for their folly, among them Dvir and his friends.

Itai Maor called his parents in Rosh Ha’ayin before Shabbos to wish them a happy Simchas Torah. Nobody knew it would be the last time they spoke. Itai loved Torah, loved the land of Israel and loved his people.

Itai Maor

Amit Tzur and Uri Locker were best friends as well as serving on the same base. A short time before Simchat Torah they sent a picture with the caption “Someone is watching out for you while you enjoy yourselves.”

Amit Tzur and Uri Locker HyD

Ophir Tzioni from Yokneam, a boy scout leader, hoped to go on to officer school after completing his basic service.

Ophir Tzioni HyD

All five soldiers fell on Simchas Torah defending their base in Zikim. May their blood be avenged.

Joined by their mutual bereavement, the five fathers decided to emulate the picture of their children by posing next to a tank, but without weapons or uniforms, just as fathers of children who fell together and in death were inseparable.