Aaron Eshel

Aaron Eshel was born in 1934 in Ra'anana

Aaron Eshel was born and raised in Ra'anana to Miriam and Avraham Eisik, who came from Poland and settled in the Land of Israel in 1932. Most of their relatives were killed in the Holocaust. He was a member of the Machanot HaOlim youth movement.

He joined the Nahal in 1952 and moved to the paratroopers in January 1954. He led a platoon in Battalion 890, fought in the reprisal raids and formed the first IDF recoilless rifle platoon. In the Sinai War he took part in the Mitla battle.

In 1960 he became deputy commander of Sayeret Matkal. He trained Ethiopian army officers abroad and later set up Battalion 450, the paratroopers' squad leaders course. In 1974 he took command of the Arava Brigade, and he left the IDF in 1978.

From 1980 to 2000 he headed the Tel Aviv-Yafo fire services. He helped found the Black Arrow memorial near Kibbutz Mefalsim and received the Yakir Ramat Gan award in 2012. He died in April 2022, leaving his wife Nira and 4 children.