St-Sgt Eyal Sorek

Jun 8, 2002 - St.-Sgt. Eyal Sorek, 23, of Carmei Tzur and his wife Yael were killed when terrorists infiltrated the community of Carmei Tzur south of Bethlehem on Friday night.

Two terrorists infiltrated the settlement, located in the southern Gush Etzion region, before dawn. Two soldiers from an artillery unit, still in basic training, identified the intruders, and demanded that they stop. The terrorists opened fire on them. Eyal Sorek was shot and killed when he left his caravan, holding a firearm. His wife Yael, who was nine months pregnant, was shot dead in the caravan. The caravan homes were set up at the site more than a year ago. The neighborhood is named after Dr. Shmuel Gillis, a Carmei Tzur resident who was killed in a shooting attack on February 1, 2001.

Reservists who arrived on the scene and killed the terrorist who had murdered the Sorek couple. One reserve officer, St.-Sgt.-Maj. Shalom Mordechai, was mortally wounded in the gunfight and another three IDF reservists and two settlers, were injured.

Eyal Sorek was born on Moshav Sadot in Sinai. After the withdrawal from Sinai, the family moved to Moshav Kidron near Gedera, but pining for the desert landscape, they settled in Kfar Adumim, a mixed religious and secular settlement in the Judean Desert near Jerusalem, where Eyal attended school until the 8tgh grade. He attended at the secular Boyer High School in Jerusalem, and completed his studies at the religious pre-military preparatory school in Atzmona (the site of terrorist attack in March 2002).

Eyal and Yael Sorek had been married for a year and a half and were expecting their first child. They had moved to Carmei Tzur about ten months ago. Eyal, a career soldier in a special forces unit, who was due to be discharged in a week and planned to study in a yeshiva.

St.-Sgt. Eyal Sorek was buried on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. He is survived by his parents, Rina and Hanan, and three siblings: Goni, Yotam and Roni.