Monmouth mourns soldier killed in sister city of Arad

by Gil Hoffman
NJJN Israel Correspondent

ARAD, Israel — The Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County’s Partnership 2000 sister community of Arad in the Negev suffered a loss when a soldier who lived in the town was killed last month by Palestinian gunmen who had infiltrated from the Gaza Strip.

An officer in the IDF tank corps, Lt. Hanan Barak was killed when the gunmen, who had dug a tunnel under the fence that surrounds the Gaza Strip, attacked his tank with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

Barak’s 171 tank corps unit was transferred to an IDF position near the Kerem Shalom crossing June 22. According to reports, Barak ordered the three men under his command to leave the tank after it had been hit, and the terrorists then shot and killed him and St.-Sgt. Pavel Slutsker of Dimona.

Israelis were focused on the fate of a third soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by the terrorists. A senior IDF intelligence official said June 27 that Shalit was being held by Hamas’ military wing in the southern Gaza Strip. A fourth soldier, Roy Amitai, survived the attack and was treated for minor injuries.

Federation officials sent condolences to Barak’s family.

Barak, who would have turned 21 in August, was buried on June 25 in a tearful ceremony at the Arad cemetery. He became the third soldier from Arad to be killed since the wave of Palestinian violence began in 2000.

Danny Darai was killed by a sniper when he was on duty outside Bethlehem. Sharon Touboul was killed by a suicide bomber when she was on a bus en route to Arad for her sister’s wedding.

Friends and family of Barak described him at the funeral as a brave soldier who loved basketball and had no fears. He went to the ORT Arad high school and then joined the tank corps, in which his father and older brother and sister had all served.

“The people of Israel lost an amazing officer, and I am not just saying that because I am his father,” David Barak said at the funeral. “We were proud of him for going on in the family tradition. He gave us 21 terrific years.”

Barak’s mother, Lena, said between tears that she “thought God would protect him but He didn’t.” But the saddest speech at the funeral came from Orit Geno, Barak’s girlfriend, who revealed that she had discussed marriage with him five days before the incident when they vacationed together in Eilat.

Geno recently moved to Arad to be closer to Barak. She said he had told her he would leave the army to be with her and that they would spend the summer together relaxing on the beach. She said that when she saw a soldier near his parents’ house on Sunday, her heart skipped a beat.

“I called his cell phone and he didn’t answer, and I felt that something was missing inside of me,” Geno said. “He said we would always be together. We had never in our lives been so happy. Hanan was a great man who lived to help others and to give strength to those around him. He was a hero.”

An Arad spokeswoman said that everyone in the town knew Barak. She said his death had affected everyone and hit the town hard. But, she said, the annual Arad festival would go on next week as planned. “As hard as it is, in Israel life always has to go on.”