Sergeant First Class (res.) Omry Rot, a tank commander in the 53rd Battalion who was killed in battle in Gaza in December, was offered the chance to leave reserve duty three times.

Omry was an employee of Elbit and his manager told him that he could be helpful to the war effort through his role at the defense contractor if he left reserves, Omry’s father Shlomi said.

“Each of the three times, Omry’s answer was, ‘first they need to release the fathers who have children waiting at home. They have first priority [to finish their reserve duty],’” said Omry’s father Shlomi. “That was Omry,” he added, explaining that Omry believed that the fate of the country depended on its citizens.

“If there was something that was a guiding principle for him it was respect for others, he treated all with respect and showed them care,” he said of his son.

“He believed that any goal could be achieved and any challenge overcome, and that everyone needed to take responsibility for his life and move himself forward, but the broader meaning of that is mutual responsibility. It is the responsibility of every person to offer a helping hand to anyone who needs it,” Shlomi said.

Shlomi said it’s important to him that the soldiers who served under Omry know that they are heroes. “They are wonderful guys, they loved Omry,” he said.

Omry's loved ones and soldiers speak of his dedication to serving 

Matan, one of the soldiers who served under Omry and was wounded in the battle during which he and another soldier in his tank, Msgt. (res.) Naftali Yonah Gordon, were killed, talked about what it was like serving under Omry.

“You could almost think there were two Omrys, the Omry of regular times and the Omry of action,” Matan explained, saying that the commander created an environment that was fun to be in when things were calm.

“Omry in fighting was a different Omry – completely aware and tense... He was direct and tough. He was very much in the mindset of ‘now we are fighting,’ and everything had to be focused on that,” Matan added.  

Matan met Omry’s father at a meeting of the company, sharing that he didn’t know what to say to him. “A bereaved father, how do you even face that? What words can you even find to say something to him?” asked Matan.

“He asked me about Omry, I answered as best I could...I told him how happy I was that I fought side by side with him, that I served under him.”

Omry’s friend Ben, who also served under him in the tank, echoed Omry’s father saying that he was selfless, always putting others before himself.

Just a few weeks before he was killed, Omry was able to attend Ben’s wedding.

Ben was meant to be married on November 29, but the wedding was pushed back by the war. After he realized he would be going back into intense fighting, and knowing he had a little time off, Ben told his wife he wanted to be married as soon as possible to make sure that should something happen to him, she would have official status with the IDF as his wife.

“I want to make sure that if something happens to me you are taken care of,” he told her on the phone.

“Wednesday I called her, Thursday we went home, and Friday morning we got married,” he said. “It was an emotional ceremony in the shadow of the war, in the shadow of knowing I would be going back into the fighting.”

Just over two weeks later, their tank was hit, and Omry and  Naftali were killed.

It was an honor to serve under Omry, who was a sensitive and caring commander, Ben said. “The number of times he took care of me during the fighting when I was worried, or in bad shape... It was a ton of times."

“He always worried about others before caring for himself.”

Omry’s father shared his message for Israelis, “we need to be united and to win. Not to give up. We are a strong people and a strong family and we will get through it.