St.-Sgt. Elazar Lebovitch

July 26, 2002 - St.-Sgt. Elazar Lebovitch, 21, of Hebron was killed in a shooting attack south of Hebron.

At least two Palestinian terrorists waited by the side of the road near Yatta, south of Hebron, to ambush an Israeli car. Elazar Lebovitch was driving newlyweds Neria and Sara Ben-Yitzhak to Tel Rumeida in Hebron to celebrate their first Shabbat together with Neria's parents. When they reached the Zeif intersection terrorists opened fire on them, fatally wounding Elazar. The Dikstein family car approached from the opposite direction; three members of the family were killed and two were in

St.-Sgt. Elazar Lebovitch, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, served in the Nahal Brigade. He was the fifth child of Yossi and Etta Leibowitz, veteran residents of the Avraham Avinu neighborhood in Hebron. Orit Struck, a resident of Hebron, described Elazar as full of life, an idealist who volunteered for every task. Several years ago his brother Yedidia was wounded in a stabbing in the Hebron market.

A few months ago, Elazar had prepared a will that included instructions for his funeral, who should eulogize him and how he was to be buried. As one of the soldiers in his infantry unit who attended the funeral yesterday said, "He had strong political opinions."

St.-Sgt. Elazar Lebovitch was buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Hebron, near the graves of the victims of the 1929 Hebron massacre. He is survived by his parents and nine siblings: Yehuda, Bat-Zion, Yedidya, Rivka, Akiva, Bezalel, Zvi, Hillel and Shilo.