Father of slain tank crewman says family is shattered after midnight knock

Staff Sgt. Naveh Havashush, 20, from Geva Binyamin, is the fourth soldier whose name has been released from Friday’s tank incident in Lebanon. In an interview with Kan News on Reshet Bet, his father, Chaim, said the family was awakened in the middle of the night and has since been overwhelmed by grief. "We lost the most precious thing a family can lose," he said.

Describing his son, Chaim Havashush said Naveh was "a child of light," kind, modest and compassionate, someone who always put others before himself and "talked little and did a lot." He said Naveh had recently completed a tank commanders course and wanted to continue toward officer training, but chose to first gain more operational combat experience.

Havashush also delivered a message of unity, saying the enemy does not distinguish between people, and noted that Naveh served with a mixed tank crew that included a kibbutz company commander from Beit Hashita, a friend from Herzliya and another from Hod HaSharon. Chaim, who serves as a reserve deputy brigade commander, said the family had lived through the October 7 war as well, including periods when both he and his older daughter were mobilized to Gaza, and he even met Naveh there.

The father recounted the last message his son sent him, about an hour and 15 minutes before the incident, saying there was a chance he would come home on Sunday and asking him not to tell his mother in case it did not work out. The family had been waiting until the early morning identification, and only then learned he had been killed. They also found notebooks in which Naveh wrote that he wanted to work and contribute as much as possible. Chaim said repeated calls to Naveh went unanswered, and his last status read, "Do not cry that it ended, smile that it happened."