Master Sgt. Itay Moreno, 24: Commando and nephew of slain IDF hero
Killed battling Hamas terrorists on Zikim Beach on October 11
Master Sgt. (res.) Itay Shlomo Moreno, 24, from Aderet, a soldier in the Maglan commando unit, was killed battling Hamas terrorists along the Zikim beach on October 11.
He was buried on October 12 in the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. He was killed alongside his best friend, Master Sgt. Daniel Kastiel.
He is survived by his wife, Gal, his parents Tamar and Moshe and his siblings Adi, Eitan and Noa.
His uncle, Lt. Col. Emmanuel Moreno, a special forces commando, was killed fighting in Lebanon in 2006 at age 35. To this day the IDF has never published a photo of the legendary combat soldier, due to the sensitivity of the operations in which he took part.
Another uncle, Rabbi Shmuel Moreno, told Channel 14 news that his nephew was “a charming young man, a person who was fully modest, humble. He charged ahead, with great dedication to the people of Israel… a pleasant guy, modest, sheepish, very smart, very handsome — he was, as his wife Gal said, ‘perfection.'”
His younger sister, Noa, 9, told the Kan public broadcaster that “he was always smiling — he had the most beautiful smile in the world. He always loved me, called me his baby, doll, princess. He taught me how to do the thing I love to do most in the world, to sing. I sang with him at his wedding — he would play and I would just sing.” Noa said her brother “taught me how to do so many things, and I’m scared to forget them.”
His father, Moshe Moreno, penned an article in Ynet with the headline: “Where will I stand now on Mount Herzl, next to my son or next to my brother?”
“I gave this country my heroic brother Emmanuel in 2006 and I have now given my son Itay… I have nothing left to give, but I want what I already gave to not be in vain,” he wrote.
“In his life Itay succeeded in everything he did,” wrote his father. “There was nothing he was not good at: he was a talented athlete, the best ‘Negevist’ there was in the army, afterward he joined the Shin Bet, married the wonderful Gal, built a home, was accepted to engineering studies.”
“My perfect child was also my best friend,” he continued. “Sought my advice on everything, it was always important to him what I thought, he always made sure I would be satisfied. Every year [on Memorial Day] he would give me strength on Mount Herzl — and now what? Who will hold me and who will strengthen me? Where will I stand, next to Itay or next to Emmanuel? I love you Itay, and I have no choice but to be strong for you.”
His wife, Gal, wrote on Facebook that she saw a notice in the newspaper of his death, “they noted that you were the nephew of an Israeli hero! But you were that too. It’s important for me that the whole world will know that you were Itay Shlomo Moreno!! You are the most modest and humble person there was, a hero of Israel. You never agreed to use the title ‘nephew of’ because you were a straightforward, justice-seeking person, and you always told me that you wanted to succeed by merit and not by favor.”
“My Itay, my heart, my first and only love,” she wrote. “You spread light everywhere you entered. How am I eulogizing you and speaking about you in the past tense? I was privileged to be by your side from age 17 until your last day… your dream was a family and children, a little kingdom of our own.”
Gal wrote that “I am the wife of the funniest and most kind-hearted person in existence. The world lost such a great light. We dreamed about Thailand, Argentina, we dreamed to finish our studies together, we dreamed of a home and children and everything was taken away.”
