Cpl. Assaf Bitan

January 23, 2003 - Cpl. Assaf Bitan, 19, of Afula, was one of three Lavi Battalion soldiers killed by terrorists who ambushed their night-time patrol south of Hebron.

The three soldiers were patrolling on foot in an area near the main Beersheba-Hebron road in order to secure the road for Israeli motorists. As they approached the Kevassim intersection, two terrorists, who had apparently been lying in wait for motorists, opened fire at the soldiers from close range, killing two of them outright. The third managed to fire several shots at the attackers before succumbing to his wounds. The terrorists escaped.

Bitan graduated high school at Kibbutz Mizra, where he was considered an outstanding student, and insisted on volunteering for combat duty upon his enlistment. His father, Eli, related how efforts by family members to dissuade him from serving in a combat unit proved fruitless. "He wanted to give it his all," said Eli. "At least I enjoyed him for 20 years."

When Assaf volunteered for the Lavi Battalion providing road security in Judea and Samaria, his father, the owner of a perfume factory, bought bulletproof vests for all the Lavi soldiers. "During all of Assaf's service in Hebron I had a strong feeling that something bad would happen," Eli Bitan said.

"Two weeks ago Assaf was on his last leave home," said his mother, Tirza. "He told me that soon something terrible would happen to him. He had a feeling that he would be killed. I was angry at him and told him not to talk that way. Assaf was a sensitive, pensive boy, very close to his family and his six nephews."