Sgt. Yonatan (Yoni) Peleg

Sept 9, 2003 - Sgt. Yonatan Peleg, 20, of Moshav Yanuv was one of eight IDF soldiers killed in a suicide bombing at a hitchhiking post for soldiers outside a main entrance to the Tzrifin army base and Assaf Harofeh Hospital. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomber wore civilian clothes and carried a leather bag containing a 3-4 kilogram bomb. He got out of a car at the hitchhiking post, and almost immediately blew himself up, killing eight and wounding 30.

Yoni Peleg was born in Israel and at the age of two moved with his family to France following his parents' divorce. They returned to Israel when Yoni was 13, and he attended the Ruppin Schol and Sharett High School in Netanya. Yoni enlisted in the army a year and a half ago, and served as an instructor on the base. Two weeks ago he was promoted to the position of coordinator. He and his girlfriend, Efrat Schwartzman, left the army base in Tzrifin together to buy a birthday gift for Efrat's mother, and were both killed in the blast.

Yoni was known as a computer freak. He had a big smile and many friends. His father Yosef said, "I want everyone to remember Yoni as a good boy, a boy who smiled all the time, loved life and cared for everyone. He and his girlfriend were very much in love. At first she was shy with us, but we made her feel like our daughter. Now they are together forever." Yoni's cousin Na'ama Sadon described his as a very sensitive, quiet boy. His mother wanted him to go into the army and his father agreed only if he did not serve in a combat unit.

Sgt. Yonatan Peleg was buried in the cemetery at Moshav Yanuv. He is survived by his parents, his older sister Shirli, 25, a brother Gal, 2, and a younger sister Tal, 2 months.