“I didn’t expect to encounter something from my army service in the middle of Panama, but it was incredibly moving,” said Saar, 23. “It’s very meaningful for me to give Alon the appreciation he deserves. It’s also a sense of closure, especially at this time of year, with Memorial Day and Independence Day.”
In December 2023, armored corps and Golani Brigade forces were operating in Khan Younis under the same brigade combat team, including Lt. Saar, a tank commander, and Staff Sgt. Alon, a soldier in Golani’s 12th Battalion.
During an operation, Saar’s tank was hit directly by an anti-tank missile. One of his crew members, Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Asaf Pinhas Tubul, was killed in the incident. Saar was seriously wounded and two other soldiers were lightly injured. As Saar tried to evacuate his crew, another anti-tank missile was fired, throwing him several meters forward.
A Golani unit under Alon’s command was nearby. “Everything around us turned into smoke and dust, you couldn’t really see anything,” Alon, 23, recalled. Amid the chaos, the unit identified a suspicious figure approaching. “At first, we thought it was a terrorist and our weapons were already aimed at him, but I had a different feeling. Within seconds, I realized it was the same guy who had been thrown from the tank, and I stopped the fire.”
Alon’s decision saved Saar’s life.
Alon and his team brought Saar into an armored personnel carrier and began providing medical treatment under fire. Saar was in very serious condition, suffering from smoke inhalation, significant burns and shrapnel wounds. Alon then made another decision — not to delay, but to evacuate Saar as quickly as possible to an extraction point.
Saar was hospitalized at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where doctors determined he had also suffered severe ear damage that caused significant hearing loss. He underwent four surgeries and later completed about six months of rehabilitation at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center.
‘We hugged and caught up’
By chance, the two met at a hostel in Panama, on the other side of the world.
“I arrived in Panama alone, and one night I saw two friends of mine talking with Alon,” Saar recalled. “I looked at him, he seemed familiar, and then it clicked that he was the one who saved my life. I went up to him and asked, ‘Do you remember me? Do you know who I am?’ He looked at me suspiciously, and then I said, ‘You saved my life in Gaza.’”
Alon said: “We hugged, and later that evening we sat down and caught up.”
The two celebrated Independence Day together at a large party in Panama for Israelis traveling after their military service, organized by Goldstar, with more than 1,000 participants.
“It felt like home,” Saar said. “And celebrating at a party together with Alon, who saved my life, felt like a huge victory.”