President visits families of 2 soldiers killed in Hezbollah attack

President Reuven Rivlin visited the families of the two IDF soldiers killed in an IDF convoy on Wednesday by Hezbollah terrorists operating from southern Lebanon.

Rivlin, who met with the bereaved immediately after returning from New York, was received by the families of Major Yochai Kalangel, 25, and Staff Sergeant Dor Chaim Nini, 20, on Friday, according to Channel 2. The two men, both members of the Givati Brigade, were killed when anti-tank rounds fired from inside Lebanon struck a convoy they were traveling in on the Israeli side.

Seven others were injured in the Hezbollah attack on Mount Dov deemed a reprisal for a previous attack in Syria last week the group attributed to Israel.

Rivlin embraced Nini’s family and expressed sadness over the loss of the loss of their son: “I did not come to offer comfort. I know that that is not possible.”

“The pain will stay here after my departure, however I promise you that we will not forget — not me, the IDF, or the nation of Israel — Dor’s heroism,” stated the president.

“They fight us because they don’t want us here. For this [reason], we have an army comprised of our boys, brothers, children, [and] grandchildren,” Rivlin added.

“He did everything for us, he was our right hand. No words can describe the loss to our family,” Nini’s father told Rivlin. “I always knew that my son was a hero,” remarked the fallen soldier’s mother.

At the home of the parents of Major Yochai Kolangel, a married father of one who served as Nini’s company commander, Rivlin extolled the officer’s legacy while speaking with his loved ones. “Before coming today, I listened at length to the testimonies of who Yochai was.  I have no doubt that he was chosen for his position as a direct result of his most impressive acts and abilities. It is heartbreaking when one understands the clear potential he had to be a great leader in the IDF,” the president told the 25-year-old’s family.

“We could not ask for a more appropriate commander for our sons and daughters in the Israel Defense Forces. We will remember him, and carry with us his legacy,” Rivlin said of Kalangel.

Sobbing friends and relatives gathered Thursday afternoon for the funerals of the two soldiers, as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah subsided following the flare-up.

Speaking at the funeral, Nini’s mother Sima asked for his forgiveness if she hurt him, Ynet reported. “My beloved boy. I’ve lost you. You went to the army and came back in a coffin.”

Nini’s girlfriend Sahar said that she discovered that he was about to propose to her. “This is not so, tell me it’s not so. We were together for six years. Please, open the door of my house and come inside. You always said that it didn’t matter who was standing in our way, you’d get rid of him. So come and get rid of this nightmare.”

“I only want one more message from you: I love you,” she continued. “Who will tell me in the morning that he loves me? No one will take your place. Please come and tell me this is just a nightmare.”

Before the funeral, Givati Brigade commander Col. Ofer Winter visited Nini’s parents.

Questions have been raised in Israel about why the soldiers were traveling in unarmored vehicles in the volatile area.

Israel said it considered Wednesday’s attack the “most severe” it had faced since 2006, when its war with Hezbollah killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon and some 160 on the Israeli side.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with top security brass late Wednesday, warning afterwards: “Those behind today’s attack will pay the full price.”