Family of IDF officer killed in accident asks public to attend funeral

The family of an Israeli officer killed Tuesday during a training exercise at an army base invited the public to attend his funeral late Wednesday night, in part because most of his relatives live abroad.

Captain Yishai Rosales, 23, was being laid to rest at 1 a.m. Thursday at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

The Rosales family, who immigrated to Israel from Mexico several years ago, made the appeal on Channel 2 television Wednesday evening, explaining that they had few family members in Israel.

“He was good to everyone,” his brother Michael told the TV station. “I don’t think there was a person that knew him that he did not help.”

“Yishai was a friend to everyone, an extraordinary person,” he added.

Michael said that his brother chose to serve in IDF’s Haredi Netzah Yehuda Battalion, in the Kfir Infantry Brigade, to preserve his religious identity.

“He came home last weekend, and went back to his base Saturday night,” he said. “Yesterday morning, we talked on our family WhatsApp group and he said he was doing field exercises and that he was fine.”

On Tuesday afternoon, a mortar round exploded during a routine drill on the Tzeelim base, located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of Beersheba, killing Rosales and lightly wounding another solider. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of captain.

In response, the head of the IDF Ground Forces, Major General Guy Tzur, postponed all ground forces exercises until an initial investigation of the incident could be carried out, the army said in a statement.

Colonel Ofir Levy, head of a reserve armored brigade, will lead the investigation into the incident, the army said.