Southern man who lost legs in mortar attack elected mayor

On August 27, 2014, with just an hour left before a ceasefire with Hamas was set to take effect ending the war in Gaza, the mortar shell struck. Gadi Yarkoni was repairing damaged electrical wires with the security team at his kibbutz in the Eshkol region.

The attack killed Kibbutz Nirim’s security coordinator Ze’ev Etzion and his deputy, Shahar Melamed. Yarkoni lost his legs.

On Tuesday, less than a year after the injury and just out of rehabilitation, Yarkoni beat out two challengers to win 51 percent of the vote in the mayoral election for the Eshkol Regional Council.

“I’ve completed a three-month journey since deciding to run for the council,” Yarkoni said after hearing the results. “I am happy that I’ve also successfully completed this mission and can begin a true journey, leading the Eshkol Regional Council resolutely forward, with love and devotion for all its residents.

“They deserve all the support possible for their steadfastness on the periphery of Israel, in their devotion to the agricultural industry, and from attacks,” he said.

He was congratulated by the outgoing mayor, Haim Jelin, who was recently elected to the Knesset as a member of the Yesh Atid party.

“There is no doubt in my mind that his strength and optimism will be a source of inspiration and energy for the growth of all the towns of Eshkol,” Jelin said in a statement.

In January, Yarkoni testified before the UN Human Rights Council about his terrifying experience and the damage inflicted on Eshkol’s residents during the war last summer.

“They didn’t ask anything; they let me talk the whole time,” he said at the time. “I told them about the children who are scared of the tunnels and the rockets.”

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