Sgt. Amit Guetta, 21: Newlywed never got to meet his firstborn son

Sgt. Amit Guetta, 21, a soldier in the Maglan commando unit, from Rehovot, was killed on October 7 battling the invasion of southern Israel.

With the start of the Hamas attack, Amit began to make his way from Netivot toward the Julis IDF base near Ashkelon in order to join his comrades before heading to the front lines. But before he could make it to the base, he was killed by Hamas gunmen along the way.

Later in the day, his commander, Cpt. Eily Adany and his comrade Staff Sgt. Amichai Vanino were slain fighting in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

Amit was buried on October 10 in Rehovot. He is survived by his wife, Gal, his parents, Einat and Avishai, and his four siblings, Gilad, Yonatan, Tamar and Yael.

Amit’s son, Oz, was born in April 2024, six months after he was killed.

Born and raised in Rehovot, Amit attended local religious schools. He played the guitar and was devoted to Torah study and observance.

After finishing high school, Amit studied at the Otzem religious pre-military academy in Nave, near the Egyptian border, before enlisting in the IDF in August 2022. He was placed in the elite Maglan commando unit, ultimately joining the team led by Eily.

Amit and Gal got married less than four months before he was slain, and settled in Netivot.

After his death, his family printed posters and stickers with a saying they attributed to him: “Never complain — I think those who complain have a flaw in their faith. Because ultimately they are complaining about what God gave them — and everything God does is for the best.”

Rabbi Yaki Weiss, who taught Amit at Otzem, said that “from the moment Amit discovered the hidden treasures in the Beit Midrash [study hall], he never wavered from it. Through his perseverance in studying, his inner self grew and grew, and he was privileged to study for two full years at the academy.”

Amit and Gal, he added, together held “three lofty values — the light of the Torah, building a faithful home in Israel and a meaningful military service to defend the homeland.”

Amit’s friend, Lavi Badichi, described him as “a straight arrow, true, humble, with good manners and a true connection to holiness — and the list only goes on.”

At the brit mila circumcision ceremony for their son, Oz, Amit’s wife Gal said that she believed “my entire pregnancy is a great miracle, the birth even more so and this little baby is a great light in my life.”

Gal offered thanks “for the hidden and visible miracles that I get to see in my life, for the presence of God and of Amit in complicated situations, spiritually and physically.”

Later, marking what would have been their first anniversary together, Gal noted that as newlyweds, “when Amit would come home from the army, we would disconnect from everything else and focus just on us. Not out of egoism, but from an understanding of the importance of time and building a relationship.”

She called on others to spend quality time with their loved ones, “to build the good in the nation of Israel. The good that my Amit aspired to, wanted and succeeded in living.”

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