'Exemplary family.' Ashkenazi
Photo: Sasson Tiram
Ashkenazi to soldiers near Gaza: Prepare for more incidents
IDF chief tells soldiers who lost two of their comrades during Friday's exchanges of fire with Palestinians near Kissufim they serve as 'wall between terrorist and Israeli communities'
"We must be prepared for the possibility of additional incidents (along the Israel-Gaza border)," IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi told soldiers belonging to the Golani Brigade's 12th battalion, which lost an officer and a soldier during exchanges of fire with Palestinian terrorists near the Kissufim crossing on Friday.
Ashkenazi, accompanied by Southern Command chief Yoav Galant and other senior IDF officers, toured the site of the incident in which Major Eliraz Peretz and Staff Sergeant Ilan Sviatkovsky were killed.
The army chief told the Golani soldiers that they constitute "a wall between the terrorists and the communities," adding that he trusts they will continue to carry out their mission loyally.
Ashkenazi, who began his military service in the Golani Brigade in 1972, said he was an acquaintance of Major Peretz's brother Uriel, who was killed in south Lebanon 12 years ago.
"The Peretz family is an exemplary family. We will support and accompany them at all times and like the rest of the people of Israel, who are with them at this time, we will bite down and move forward," he said.
The IDF chief said it was vital to investigate and draw the necessary lessons from Friday's incident.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Peretz family home on Sunday to express his condolences. "I was shocked by this tragic incident. I pray that you may not know any more sorrow," he told the family.
