Those We Have Lost

Maj. (res.) Moshe Leiter, 39: Father of 6 training to be a doctor

Killed in battle in northern Gaza on November 10

Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidyah Leiter who was killed in Gaza on November 10, 2023. (IDF)
Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidyah Leiter who was killed in Gaza on November 10, 2023. (IDF)

Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidyah Leiter, 39, was killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on November 10.

Leiter, a reservist, served as a paramedic and was due to start a training placement at a hospital as part of his studies to become a doctor. He is survived by a wife and six children, the youngest of whom is under three months old.

He was killed alongside his fellow reservists and comrades Sgt. Maj. (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz, Master Sgt. (res.) Matan Meir, and Master Sgt. (res.) Sergey Shmerkin.

Moshe’s father, Yehiel Leiter, was a former chief of staff to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking to Israel Hayom, Yehiel Leiter said that Netanyahu had called him to pay his respects after learning about his son’s death.

“When the prime minister called me this evening to console me, I told him only one thing: ‘Bibi, my son’s blood was not shed in vain. Finish this job. Don’t let any pressure in the world stop you. Because the only consolation of this loss is banishing evil,’” he recounted.

Alongside his medical studies, Leiter had been involved in a program dedicated to training ultra-Orthodox men in computer science, preparing them to draft to the IDF’s prestigious Unit 8200.

“Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox soldiers who are now serving in the army and will later join the high-tech market passed under his hand,” Ishay Cohen, the CEO of the Netzach Yehuda organization, which assists ultra-Orthodox men in drafting to the IDF, wrote on X.

Philanthropist Miriam Adelson wrote in Israel Hayom — which she owns — about her relationship with Leiter and his heroism.

He “was among the most promising students in the medical school that I founded with my late husband, Sheldon, at Ariel University,” she wrote. “He was a father of six, yet he himself seemed to be the eternal, inquisitive child with a mischievous smile that would never leave his lips.”

At his funeral in Jerusalem, his daughter, Carmi, said that Leiter “made me into the best version of myself. I admired your knowledge, your modesty. I learned from you not to give up. I always felt protected next to you, you projected calm and control in your eyes. Dad, you have left an enormous hole. You should know that we will be strong.”

His wife, Tzippy, recalled their “love of 20 years. All of my life I asked for peace and quiet and I found them in your heart. You are still inside me even though you are gone. You died a hero’s death… your almost 40 years were like 80 years of anyone else. You were one big light, and now the light has been spread into a thousand tiny pieces.”

Read more Those We Have Lost stories here. 

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