Sgt. Maj. Nir Krichman

Apr 22, 2002 - Sgt. Maj. Nir Krichman, 22 of Hadera, was killed in an exchange of gunfire, when IDF forces entered the village of Asira a-Shamaliya, north of Nablus, to arrest known Hamas terrorists.

Sgt. Maj. Nir Krichman was part of a naval commando force that was moving toward the village of Asira a-Shamaliya when the Hamas men opened fire. He was mortally wounded in the first burst of fire. The soldiers then charged toward the source of gunfire and killed two Hamas operatives, Taher Nasser and Iyad Hamdaneh, responsible, among others, for the suicide bombing in Emmuanuel in which 10 Israelis were killed and the attack in February at Moshav Hamra in the Jordan Valley, where three Israelis were killed.

Nir attended high school in Hadera and was considered a brilliant student. He was drafted into the army in January 1998 and began a pilots course, but was dropped after a month. Nir, who loved the sea, to surf and to dive, then volunteered for the naval commando. Last January ago he participated in the capture of the Palestinian arms ship Karine A, and in the past weeks he took part in the fighting in Jenin in the framework of Operation Defensive Shield.

Hundreds of Hadera residents came to the Krichman home yesterday after hearing that Nir was killed. His grandfather, Ya'akov Krichman, a veteran of the Palmach, ran a large auto repair business for decades, and many Hadera residents are personally acquainted with Nir's parents, Pniel and Hadas.

Sgt. Maj. Nir Krichman was buried in the military cemetery in Hadera. He is survived by his parents, his brother Ran (25) and sister Sivan (18).