LIST OF FALLEN SOLDIERS
Following is a list of IDF soldiers who
perished in the tragic helicopter crash in February, 1997.
| Rank & Name | Age | Home Town |
| Major Yirmi Cohen | 23 | Rosh HaAyin |
| Major Ronnen Halfon | 35 | Tiberias |
| Major Yisrael Hushani | 34 | Tel Aviv |
| Major Yasis Edan | 44 | Ramat HaSharon |
| Captain Vitali Radinsky | 33 | Ohr Akiva |
| Captain Vadim Melnik | 24 | Tzfat |
| Lieut. Shai Abuksis | 22 | Michmoret |
| Lieut. Alon Rivan | 21 | Givat Zeev |
| Lieut. Dotan Cohen | 21 | Hadera |
| Lieut. Eran Peretz | 21 | Degania Alef |
| Lieut. Kobi Ben Shem | 20 | Ramat HaSharon |
| Lieut. Erez Stark | 20 | Kiryat Ata |
| Lieut. Nir Shreibman | 20 | Kfar Saba |
| Lieut. Alon Bavian | 21 | Givat Ze'ev |
| Lieut. Dvir Lanir | 21 | Moledet |
| Lieut. Gil Eisen | 21 | Nes Tziyona |
| Mst.-Sgt. Paul Bibes | 26 | Ashdod |
| Sgt.-Major Gal Meizels | 21 | Kiryat Ata |
| Sgt.-Major Tamir Gelser | 24 | Tel Aviv |
| Sgt.-Major Sagi Arzi | 22 | Kfar Yonah |
| Staff Sgt. Tzafrir Shoval | 22 | Kibbutz Baram |
| Staff Sgt. Dan Arman | 20 | Ra'anana |
| Staff Sgt. Emil Azulai | 20 | Eilat |
| Staff Sgt. Gil Sharabi | 20 | Rechovot |
| Staff Sgt. Gilad Meshker | 20 | Yerushalayim |
| Staff Sgt. Ilan Lantzizki | 20 | Kiryat Chayim |
| Staff Sgt. Michael Katz | 20 | Mitzpe Netofa |
| Staff Sgt. Moshe Saban | 19 | Hod HaSharon |
| Staff Sgt. Omer Shalit | 19 | Yerushalayim |
| Staff Sgt. Rafi Balilti | Migdal HaEmek | |
| Staff Sgt. Tom Kitain | 20 | Neve Shalom |
| Staff Sgt. Asaf Siboni | 20 | Kibbutz Nir Am |
| Staff Sgt. Shilo Levi | 21 | Karnei Shomron |
| Staff Sgt. Shachar Kisom | 20 | Alfei Menashe |
| Staff Sgt. Ron Herman | 20 | Ranaana |
| Staff Sgt. Avraham Hofner | 21 | Kiryat Tivon |
| Staff Sgt. Eidan Alpert | 20 | Bat Yam |
| Staff Sgt. Asaf Rotenberg | 20 | Tel Aviv |
| Staff Sgt. Nadav Lischensky | 20 | Sde Avraham |
| Sgt. Dani Ze'evi | 19 | Haifa |
| Sgt. Tamir Glazer | 20 | Holon |
| Sgt. Micha Gottlieb | 20 | Tel Aviv |
| Sgt. Eitan Maman | 25 | Beer Sheva |
| Sgt. Gilad Moshel | 20 | Tel Aviv |
| Sgt. Avraham Ofner | 21 | Yerushalayim |
| Sgt. Fahdi Kazmal | 19 | Beit Jahn |
| Sgt. Gideon Mulado | 21 | Lod |
| Sgt. Nir Ben-Chaim | 20 | Kibbutz Yifat |
| Sgt. Assaf Dahan | 19 | Yerushalayim |
| Sgt. Gideon Posner | 22 | Tel Aviv |
| Sgt. Shachar Rosenberg | 19 | Nes Tziyona |
| Sgt. Vadislav Michaelov | 22 | Tel Aviv |
| Sgt. Vitali Pesachov | 19 | Acco |
| Sgt. Yaron Tzafir | 20 | Tel Aviv |
| Sgt. Itai Adler | 19 | Ra'anana |
| Sgt. Avner Alter | 20 | Kibbutz Ashdod Yaakov |
| Sgt. Yonatan Armedi | 20 | Ma'ale Adumim |
| Sgt. Menachem Feldman | 20 | Haifa |
| Sgt. Avishai Gidron | 19 | Kiryat Motzkin |
| Sgt. Idan Minker | 20 | Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak |
| Sgt. Aviv Gonen | 20 | Kfar Sirkin |
| Sgt. Tomer Kedar | 21 | Kibbutz Negba |
| Sgt. Moshe Saban | 19 | Hod HaSharon |
| Sgt. Tomer Goldberg | 19 | Moshav Dishon |
| Sgt. Yiftach Shalpoversky | 20 | Hod HaSharon |
| Sgt. Khamed Rahel | 26 | Zarzir |
| Sgt. Zaphir Sharoni | 25 | Natanya |
| Sgt. Yaron Tzofiof | 20 | Tel Aviv |
| Cpl. Shlomo Pizuati | 19 | Tiberias |
One of the soldiers killed in the crash, Assaf
Rotenberg, was interviewed a week earlier on Israel Television,
following the detonation of the Hizbullah bomb in Lebanon which
killed three of his fellow soldiers. He was asked, "How is
it to return to the front lines in Lebanon after such an event?
Is it hard to return?" Assaf Rotenberg answered, "We
have no choice but to continue the job. It's hard, but I don't
think I feel badly that I am returning to this outpost and not to
a safer base somewhere within Israel; exactly the opposite."
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