Tens of thousands paid their respects to lone soldiers Max Steinberg and Sean Carmeli this week. They are among 32 IDF soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge.
Thousands attended the funeral of lone soldier Max Steinberg, 24, on Wednesday morning. (Photo: Tazpit)
Max Steinberg, 24, was killed battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Sunday and was among the 13 IDF soldiers who were killed when a Hamas anti-tank rocket struck their armored vehicle. More than 30,000 people attended his funeral in Jerusalem Wednesday morning.
Steinberg, like the 2,700 lone soldiers who have come from abroad and are currently serving in the IDF, had no family in Israel. The Los Angeles native first came to Israel in 2012 on a Birthright Israel
trip and joined the IDF’s elite Golani brigade six months later.
Because he was a lone soldier, Steinberg was assisted by the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center, an organization whose mission is to help lone soldiers during their IDF service.
Josh Flaster, national director of the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center, who knew Steinberg, told Tazpit News Agency that it has been a very difficult time for the center, which serves as a warm-knit
community for IDF soldiers alone in Israel.
Lone Soldier Center: A Difficult Time
“Some of our lone soldiers have lost their best friends on the battlefield during this war; some have been wounded. We have over 250 volunteers, most of who were former lone soldiers themselves and have fought in battles, who are talking to the soldiers and helping in any way they can,” said Flaster.
“For example, wounded soldiers carried off the field, do not have their phones or wallets with them. We go down the hospitals and give these lone soldiers pocket money and anything else they need, because their families aren’t here to do that for them.”
Sean Carmeli’s funeral Sunday at Haifa’s military cemetery was attended by thousands. (Photo: Flash90)
The center also makes sure that proper respect is paid to the lone soldiers who have been killed in battle, organizing busses to funerals and sending volunteers to the mourning families coming from abroad.
On Monday, more than 20,000 mourners gathered in Haifa for the funeral of Sean Carmeli, 21, a lone soldier from Texas who was also killed in Sunday’s fighting, alongside Steinberg.
Former lone soldier Benji Davis, who made aliyah from Los Angeles, attended Steinberg’s funeral and spoke of the brotherhood felt among the lone soldiers serving in the IDF.
“Max’s passing reminds us that the IDF is not just the Israel Defense Forces, but it is the army for all
the Jewish people, an army that defends Jews from all over the world,” Davis told Tazpit.
“I didn’t know Max personally but I realized today what it means to be fully Israeli. As someone said at the funeral, to be Israeli is to cry for someone that you never knew and who feels like your family.
That is exactly how I felt today.”
IDF Casualties in Gaza Up to 32
“It was incredible to see tens of thousands of others feel that way too,” added Davis.
Three IDF soldiers were killed on Wednesday, bringing the number of casualties among IDF soldier since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge to 32..
Author: Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency