Father of Fallen IDF Officer Dies After Years of Devotion

Yoni Ben-Ari, the father of Major Hagai Ben-Ari, who was killed in action, passed away over the weekend. For two and a half years, Yoni devotedly cared for his son after Hagai sustained a critical head injury during Operation Protective Edge. The family announced his passing with sorrow, stating, "Our dear father has been reunited with his fathers and his son Hagai."

Hagai Ben-Ari, an officer in the Paratroopers' reconnaissance unit, was critically wounded on the fifth day of Operation Protective Edge in 2014 while leading his soldiers in a battle near Khan Yunis. Despite the severity of his injury, he fought for his life for two and a half years, remaining unconscious. When recovery prospects diminished, his family brought him home to a specially built house in the yard of his parents' home in the moshav of Nov, in the Golan Heights.

Surrounded by the love of his family and friends, Hagai passed away in January 2017 at the age of 31. The Ben-Ari family continued to honor Hagai's memory with resilience and faith. Yoni, who tirelessly supported his son throughout his struggle, became a symbol of unwavering paternal love and steadfastness in the face of immense hardship.

Now, nearly a decade after his son's death, Yoni Ben-Ari has also passed away. His family chose to bid him farewell with the poignant words of Nathan Yonatan's song, "A Man Looks at His Son," which describes a father and son walking together, a message that imbued their parting with special meaning as Yoni was reunited with his son Hagai.