Moving meeting at Hapoel Tel Aviv training: "They fell so that we could live"

Members of the "Yad LeBanim" organization presented Hapoel Tel Aviv with a certificate of appreciation for commemorating IDF soldiers and security forces, and for supporting bereaved families. The organization's chairman, Eli Tahar, who lost two sons and a brother in Israel's wars, arrived at the team's training session to share his story with the players and staff, moving everyone present.

"I lost two sons in the army and a brother," Tahar began his remarks. "On October 7, I lost my second son, a very senior official in the Shin Bet. Before that, he was a very senior officer in the Shayetet, and he is the only one whose photo is forbidden for publication. I follow football, I see how beautifully you commemorate the fighters and how much strength it gives us as a bereaved family. These fighters did not fall in vain; they fell so that we could live, and so that you could play football, walk with pride, and walk with your heads held high. It is thanks to these fighters. You are commemorating them, and for that, you deserve all the credit."

"Gives us strength as bereaved families"?

Members of the "Yad LeBanim" organization presented the club with a certificate of appreciation for commemorating IDF soldiers and security forces, and for supporting bereaved families.

Tahar, who turned his grief into his life's mission, was elected chairman of the organization last year, replacing Eli Ben-Shem, who held the position for 26 years. He lost his brother Yossi in July 1981 in Lebanon, his son Roi in 2001 in a motorcycle accident, and on October 7, his son Yossi, a legendary fighter from the Shin Bet's operational unit, who fell in a heroic battle and whose photo, as mentioned, is forbidden for publication.