Peleg Aharon, 21, a moshav resident from the Lower Galilee, never knew her grandfather, Staff Sgt. Maj. Shlomo Aharon, who fell in Lebanon 44 years ago, but she heard many stories of his heroism. After completing officers’ course last week, she will return to command Border Police recruits at the force’s training base in Beit Horon.
“My greatest dream is to continue my grandfather’s path,” Peleg says. “I grew up with the legacy and the stories, and I wanted to be part of this system called the Border Police. I had a very good experience during my regular service. I felt surrounded by a warm family. I am realizing my abilities, I have an influence on fighters and I understood that I wanted to continue my path in the Border Police. For me, it is a way of life and a mission.”
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Peleg with her father, Assi Aharon, at the end of officers’ course
(Photo: Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit)
“The first time I put on the Border Police uniform, I saw my late grandfather in front of me, his heroic figure, and I was very moved. It was an internal emotion and a tremendous sense of pride,” she adds. “No one knew I was the granddaughter of a fallen Border Police fighter.
“As far as I’m concerned, the sky is the limit in my service, and I am focused on my next role: educating the young generation of Border Police fighters. Since October 7, it has been clear to everyone that the Border Police is the protective vest of the State of Israel, and this is the security mission I will carry out with pride,” she says with emotion.
Staff Sgt. Maj. Shlomo Aharon
(Photo: From the Yizkor website)
Peleg’s father is Chief Superintendent Assi Aharon, 52, commander of community policing in the village of Tur’an in the Northern District’s Afula and Valleys region. “I was born in Moshav Tzipori in the Jezreel Valley to a father who was a Border Police fighter and served in the northern Border Police at Beit Netofa,” he says. “Because of his role as company sergeant major of Company Kaf, he went up with all the fighters for operational activity in Lebanon. The entire company was involved in locating terrorists in the Tyre area.
“I was a small child. I remember that my father did not come home. They kept me away and did not tell me what had happened. Unfortunately, there were no survivors from the Border Police, except for the fighters who were on operational activity outside the government building.”
Shlomo Aharon, his eldest son Avi upon his enlistment for regular service, and his wife Tehila
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
According to Assi, “My mother was left a widow caring for four orphaned children. My eldest brother, Avi, was already in an armored corps officers’ course, and my sister Sarah was in an officers’ course in the Medical Corps. My sister Eti, who was 14 at the time of the disaster, cared for me and my mother in the period afterward, and I was the youngest, 8 years old.
“Following the heavy disaster, my eldest brother Avi was transferred from the Armored Corps to a role as an intelligence officer in the northern Border Police, and served as an officer in the Northern District.” Assi, the youngest of the siblings, enlisted in 1993 in the Border Police’s Valleys region, and later moved to serve in the Israel Police’s blue-uniformed force in the Northern District.
Grandmother’s pride
As the daughter and granddaughter of proud Border Police fighters, Peleg absorbed the values of her grandfather Shlomo from a young age. “For as long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to reach the unit. Even though I never met him, I knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps.
“Grandfather Shlomo was, for me, a farmer, a Zionist, a lover of the land, a fighter, a field guard and a man of values — everything I dreamed of becoming. I graduated from the Arabic track at Kadoorie High School. I told the recruitment office that I wanted only the Border Police, and they accepted my request and sent me to the Border Police.”
Granddaughter Peleg, center, father Assi and grandmother Tehila Aharon
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
Aharon completed 05 combat training for female fighters and was assigned as a Border Police fighter. After several months, she went on to complete a squad commanders’ course in the unit, served as an instructor and, at the end of her regular service, entered officers’ course at IDF Training Base 1. She completed the Border Police professional training phase at the force’s training base and graduated this week.
“I am the only granddaughter in the family continuing my grandfather’s path in the Border Police, and it moves my grandmother Tehila to see me in the unit’s uniform. Every time I come to visit her, she prepares the dish that was my grandfather’s favorite — and mine too — kubbeh soup.”