Ehud Elad

Ehud Elad was born in 1936 in Kfar Saba

Ehud Elad was born in Kfar Saba on May 11, 1936, to the Eidelman family. He was a member of the HaNoar HaOved youth movement and finished high school at the Berl Katznelson school in the city.

He joined the IDF in 1954 and stayed on as a career soldier after his regular service. As a junior armored officer he fought in the 1960 reprisal raid at Tawfiq. In the mid 1960s he was among the first armored soldiers sent to the United States to study the Patton M48 tank.

Armored Corps commander Israel Tal chose him, then a major, to command Battalion 79, one of 2 Patton battalions formed before the Six-Day War. On June 5, 1967, he led the battalion at Rafah, where he was wounded but kept command, and then at Sheikh Zuweid.

That afternoon his tank was hit at the Jiradi pass east of El Arish, and he was killed. He was later buried in the military cemetery in Kfar Saba and was promoted to lieutenant colonel after his death. His brother Gideon Elad wrote the song Halach Achi in his memory.