Yehuda Hudeda

Yehuda Hudeda was born in 1947

Yehuda Hudeda was born on November 14, 1947, in the moshav of Elro'i near Kiryat Tiv'on, to Sasson and Tova. His father was among the early settlers of Elro'i and commanded the moshav's guard unit. The family was Zionist and religiously observant.

As a youth he was active in youth movements and served as a counselor in Gadna and HaNoar HaOved. He played youth soccer, including for the Maccabi Haifa youth team, swam and completed a diving course.

He enlisted in the IDF in 1965 and served in the Engineering Corps, first in regular service and then as a career officer. He completed sapper, parachuting, squad commander and officer courses. In Battalion 605 of the canal crossing unit, he worked on command and on developing crossing doctrine and technology, and in 1970 he led a crossing operation near Qantara.

In the Yom Kippur War he served as engineering officer and deputy battalion commander in Division 143. He directed the building of bridges north of the Great Bitter Lake and kept them in place under Egyptian artillery fire. He was killed in shelling on October 22, 1973, while at the bridgehead, and was buried in the military cemetery in Haifa.

After his death he was promoted to major and received the Medal of Courage. The first bridge built over the Suez Canal was named after him. The song Three Bridges was written in his memory and that of two fellow officers.