Nitzan and Shlomit Lifshitz, parents of Lavi Lifshitz, who fell in combat in the Gaza Strip today (Tuesday), eulogized their son in a statement to the press. They called on the public to do as Lavi did throughout his life, while expressing their appreciation for the soldiers fighting in the Strip.
“This is a difficult moment for us. Our son Lavi was killed today. Like everyone this happens to, this is a moment that unsettles you, said Lavi’s father Nitzan. “First and foremost we want to say: he was killed with his friend Roey Wolf, a friend who went with him for two and a half years since they enlisted.”
“Lavi was a man who loved people. He was a sensitive man. He loved the army on the one hand, and he had a conflict on the other,” he said. “When they told him he would be a war animal, he said ‘Dad, I don’t want to be a war animal.’ I told him, ‘Lavi, one day you will go save people. What you do will be to save people.’ Lavi, when he went into battle, he knew. He told me ‘Dad, I know. This time I’m fighting for our country. This is the right thing.’”
He also told of how “Lavi had great sensitivity. He was a very, very sensitive man. You’d ask him do you want to be a soldier? This wasn’t his dream. Lavi wanted to be a photographer. Lavi wanted to make movies, to make TV. We laughed that even when Tarantino came, to visit them, that even he can’t make such movies.”
“I hope he really will be among the last ones. We loved him. We love him. Around us is a great envelope (of people) which loves us and him,” he summarized. “He fought, he knew where he was going. He didn’t give up. He told me ‘Dad, my life is in no way more valuable than any other friend. And therefore I’m going.”
Lavi’s mother Shlomit added and told of how “Lavi called me after they returned to their base from three days of fighting at Nachal Oz. He told me ‘Mom, my heart is torn by the foreign workers. Where will they go? My heart is torn to see the cows in the dairy. Who will come to milk them? My heart is torn that the cows are now wandering among the bodies.’ I spoke to him Wednesday, and on Friday morning I sent him a message and I saw one check. I understood. I knew. And the truth is I knew even before.”
“Nitzan: it’s not just Givati soldiers; everyone who’s there: we appreciate your work. We know you’re working hard. We hope you’ll all come back. And when you are people, the day you get out, I think the most important thing, if you want to be like Lavi – be sensitive to people. To animals. To the environment. Be people who love. Be people who smile.”