Family tragedy worsens for ex-IDF chief Eisenkot, who loses 3rd close relative in war
Nephew Yogev Pazy, killed in Gaza, had tattoo created in memory of his cousin Gal Eisenkot after latter’s death in December; lawmakers send condolences to National Unity MK on loss
A Sunday announcement by the Israel Defense Forces of soldiers killed in Gaza deepened the personal tragedy experienced by former IDF chief of staff and current opposition lawmaker Gadi Eisenkot in the ongoing war, who has now lost three close relatives in combat in the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of Israel’s war with Hamas in October 2023.
Cpt. Yogev Pazy, 22, a platoon commander with the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion — Eisenkot’s nephew — was declared dead, alongside Staff Sgt. Noam Eitan, 21, after an exchange of fire with Hamas operatives in the Beit Lahiya area in the northern Gaza Strip.
Eisenkot’s son, Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, was killed while fighting in Gaza in early December, and another nephew of his, Sgt. Maor Cohen Eisenkot, 19, was killed in battle a day later.
Eisenkot, who served as the IDF chief of staff from 2015 to 2019, is a member of MK Benny Gantz’s National Unity party that joined the government as part of an emergency coalition in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught. He served as an observer in the war cabinet until National Unity returned to the opposition in June.
Hebrew media outlets on Sunday evening published an excerpt from a Facebook post written by Pazy back in August on the occasion of what would have been his cousin Gal Eisenkot’s 26th birthday.
“Eight months and three days,” Pazy wrote on August 10. “But today is a day without sad speeches. Today is your birthday. So instead, I will share my thanks and a number of memories.”
The post was accompanied by several images of Pazy and Eisenkot throughout the years, and a photograph of a tattoo that Pazy had gotten in Eisenkot’s memory.
סרן יוגב פזי ז"ל מהיישוב גבעות בר שבנגב כתב בחודש פברואר 2021: "ותאמינו לי, את השם שלי אתם לא תשכחו בקרוב". פזי, אחיינו של הרמטכ"ל לשעבר גדי אייזנקוט, כתב את הפוסט האחרון שלו על בן דודו גל: "אומנם לאחים ולהורים אתה בן הזקונים, אבל לעולם תישאר אחי הגדול. אוהב אותך בנדוד" pic.twitter.com/GW8waMk7pH
— ilana curiel (@ilanacuriel) November 17, 2024
“Thank you for all the help before and during the recruitment process, the advice, the encouragement, the guidance and the concern,” Pazy wrote at the time. “Thank you for the childhood fights, the laughter, the love, the concern, the care, the giving.”
Politicians from across the political spectrum expressed their condolences to Eisenkot in the wake of Pazy’s death, mourning the loss of his nephew and the multiple tragedies that he and his family have endured in the past year.
“My heart aches for two heroes who fell today in the Gaza Strip,” Gantz wrote on X. “Hannah, Gadi and the beloved Pazy family, my heart is with you in these difficult times.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said his “heart was broken” by the news of the deaths, and added: “There are no words to console. There is no end to the sadness.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sent his condolences to Eisenkot for the “heavy and painful price” that his family has paid throughout the war in Gaza, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich eulogized the two soldiers who fell on Sunday “in the defense of the homeland.”
“Gadi Eisenkot lost a son, a nephew, and now another nephew in this war. A family of heroes,” Smotrich added.
“My heart goes out to the families who lost those most dear to them and to my friend Gadi Eisenkot, who lost his son and nephew in the war, and now another nephew,” Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote. “For their sake, and in their memory, we will continue to act resolutely for the security of our country.”
Earlier on Sunday, the IDF had announced that Sgt. First Class (res.) Idan Keinan, 21, from Ramat Gan, had been killed fighting in the northern Gaza Strip.
Keinan also served with the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion.
Their deaths brought Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas and during operations on the border to 378.
The three were killed during an ongoing military offensive in the northern Gaza areas of Jabalia and Beit Lahiya, which have been the target of intense fighting since early October, as part of what the IDF has said is a campaign to fight Hamas terrorists waging attacks and prevent them from regrouping.
The IDF says it has killed hundreds of gunmen in those three areas, which residents said Israeli forces had isolated from Gaza City.
The war in Gaza erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seized 251 hostages, of whom 97 are believed to still be captive in Gaza. Hamas has also held two Israeli captives in Gaza for close to a decade, both of whom are believed to be alive, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers.
