Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Yehuda Moreno, who made Aliyah from France at age one, in 1972, was killed in the 2006 Second Lebanon War while serving in the special forces unit Sayeret Matkal. He was posthumously awarded a special citation for courage by the IDF Chief of Staff.
A memorial monument was erected in Gush Etzion for Moreno, as well as for Major Yochai Klangel and Captain Ezra Asher who fell in battle with him. The memorial was located in the Nativ Ha’avot or Derech Ha’avot neighborhood in the northwestern part of Elazar, a religious community in Gush Etzion, 11 miles south of Jerusalem.
In August 2016, responding to an appeal by Peace Now and other anti-Zionist NGOs, the High Court of Justice ordered the evacuation of 17 homes that are fully or partially located outside the state owned land where the bulk of the neighborhood stands. Despite a pending petition to the Supreme Court, the IDF Civil Administration went ahead and razed the Moreno monument. Efficiency and professionalism above all, COGAT’s motto.
At 6 PM Sunday, the memorial monument will be dedicated again, with family members and friends, as well as public figures including Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, Yesh Atid Chairman MK Yair Lapid, and Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shlomo Ne’eman.