Family of fallen lone soldier fundraises for youth center, Torah scroll in his name

• Published date: 20 April 2024
• Author: EVE YOUNG
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The officers were there to tell her that Suissa had been killed earlier that day in a road accident

Bennathan had to ask the people at the door who they were multiple times, before she could bring herself to let them in. "In my head I was like what if they are in costume? I literally just didn't want to believe it. I started making things up in my head [so I wouldn't have to] believe it," she said. "Don't tell me he's not alive, he's not in the army," she said to the officers when she eventually let them in.

Suissa became a lone soldier part way through his IDF service when his parents and younger siblings moved back to Montreal, while he and a few of his older siblings stayed in the country. He was a driven young man who had worked hard to earn his spot in the elite Paratroopers reconnaissance unit.

"When he had something in mind, he would do it till the end," said Bennathan, explaining that Suissa had trained hard and joined special programs to help him get into his unit.

Bennathan described her brother as fearless and selfless. "During the war, all of his commanders told us how he was always first to go when there was a dangerous situation and they needed someone to come in first. Yisrael would always jump up to volunteer," she said.

He was also a positive influence on his team and on his family, she said. He was "always with a smile on his face and good energy wherever he was. His commander said that whenever he needed to count on someone to lift [his unit's] spirits," he could always count on Suissa.

"When he would come in [to family gatherings] it was automatically a positive mood, [he was] funny, making jokes," she remembered.

More is possible

"His favorite saying in the army was 'efshar od (more is possible).'" She recalled a video in which his army friend told him he won first place in a competition, and Yisrael responded "efshar od."

His family worried about Suissa, who fought in Gaza for incredibly long stretches of time. "We had this group, and we would do as much as possible to keep him safe spiritually," she said, saying they said Tehillim (psalms) and did Hafrashat Challa (separating challa).

The week Suissa was killed he was on leave from the army and the family finally relaxed a little...