The 825th IDF casualty since the outbreak of the war was Sergeant Uriel Peretz, 23, from Betar Illit, a fighter in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the Kfir Brigade who was killed on Monday by an anti-tank missile strike on a building where his force was staying in Beit Hanun – where the IDF had resumed operations last weekend. Seven soldiers were injured, 3 of them seriously.
His funeral will take place Tuesday at 2:00 PM on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
Ariel Yakubof, a close friend of Uriel who knew him from yeshiva, told Reshet Bet Radio on Tuesday morning, “He was a completely classic Haredi. Torah and the army went hand in hand for him. He grew up in Beitar Illit, came from a small yeshiva in Jerusalem, moved to a large yeshiva, and finished in a yeshiva in Nachlaot. Then he received a draft notice and decided to enlist.”
“At first it wasn’t something he accepted easily,” said Ariel, “But he underwent a change of perspective and he decided that he would enlist. Despite all the difficulties he experienced there, he graduated from the paramedic course with honors.”
Uriel almost failed the paramedic course, but he didn’t give up, according to Ariel. The last conversation between the two was when Uriel entered Gaza for another round of fighting: “He was very excited about it, he was excited to fight, for the hostages, too.”
“Uriel held the Torah in one hand and the sword in the other, the way Judah Maccabee is remembered. He was absolutely the Judah Maccabee of our time. It is very important to me that he be remembered as a Haredi who fought, gave 100%, his all.”
The bereaved father, Rabbi Hananya Peretz, a posek in Beitar Illit and a senior member of the marriage department in the Jerusalem Rabbinate, eulogized his son: “We are believers and accept the decree of heaven with love. The catastrophe struck us like thunder on a clear day, and we believe that what is decreed for a person from heaven will come upon him. We do not understand the calculations of heaven, and we accept the judgment with love. My son feared heaven, with extreme humility toward every person. His friends told me that he never hurt anyone, he always received everyone with a broad smile and a good disposition. He was never angry, and he was loved by people.”
Uriel’s friend Netanel Neeman told Reshet Bet, “He was an amazing guy, with a good and sensitive heart. It struck a chord in us. He enlisted and remained a Ben Torah.”
“A few months ago, I met him in basic training, and saw him with five or six weapons on him, I asked him, ‘What is this, punishment?’ So, he answered: ‘No, I have a friend who is hospitalized, another friend at a funeral, so I’m guarding their weapons. When the armory opens, I’ll deposit them.’ He was quiet and modest with a shy smile,” Netanel said.
