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Dec. 23, 2003
Two Officers, two friends, died side by side
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
Scores of friends and relatives flooded the Bibi family home in Ma’aleh Adumim to comfort parents Tzvia and Nissim over the loss of their firstborn, Hagai.
Sitting on his son’s bed, tears running down his face, Nissim told reporters how he had begged his son to leave the army, offering to pay for university studies and the purchase of an apartment.
"He told me, ’father, those soldiers are my soldiers and I must protect them,’" said Nissim.
On the walls in Hagai’s room are certificates for outstanding performance he received during his army service; two were given to him by Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya’alon.
"There was always a smile on Hagai’s face,‘ said Tzvia,. ’He was tall and very handsome."
Hagai loved the army, said Nissim, even when he was wounded in an attack on the Termit IDF outpost. Despite receiving 30 days of sick leave, he insisted on returning to his soldiers after several days, he said.
On Monday night when news of the attack broke, friends called the house to inquire about Hagai, said Tzvia.
"I calmed my friends and tried calling Hagai on his phone and I also called his military phone but there was no answer. I couldn’t understand what had happened and then there was a knock on the door, I was too scared to open it. That’s it. My life is over. What will I do with the certificates?" she asked.
He is also survived by two sisters Lilach, 21 and Moran 18.
Despite being the only son, Lt. Alex Weissman drove his mother crazy forcing her to agree to sign a waiver to serve in a combat unit. He was killed at the side of his friend and company commander, Hagai Bibi, said Alex’s mother, Rivka, adding: "The two were very close and served together in the Sabar Company before becoming company commanders," she said.
On Monday night, she was working in the children’s ward at the Haemek Hospital in Afula when she was summoned home. Sarita, 24, Alex’s sister told reporters there was a heavy knock on the door; she opened it to see two IDF officers.
"I could tell by the expressions on their face that the worst had happened," she said.
Alex constantly worried about his soldiers and at holiday times would give food coupons he received to soldiers in need. A month didn’t go by without him digging into his pocket and giving out hundreds of shekels in cash to soldiers, said Sarita.
Alex ’s sister leveled harsh criticism at settlers in the Gaza Strip, whom she blamed for her brother’s "meaningless death"
Speaking to Army Radio on Tuesday morning, Sarita Weisman said,"There was no justification for my brother to be killed in the Gaza Strip. He was killed just out of hand, for nothing, because soldiers get killed for nothing.
"When I think that my brother, who served at a Gaza settlement to protect 20 or 30 families because of their ideology, because they want to be there, it is unjustifiable. If the settlers want to be there, they have to find ways of defending themselves," Sarita added.
Deputy Company Commander Lt. Alex Leonardo Weisman’s is survived by his mother, father and sister.
In Memoriam
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