Sgt. Elad Pollack

Oct 19, 2003 - Sgt. Elad Pollack, 19, of Kiryat Motzkin was one of three soldiers killed while on patrol in Ein Yabrud, north of Ramallah, when terrorists fired on them from behind. The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.

Four soldiers from the Duhifat battalion were on foot patrol in Ein Yabrud to prevent terrorists from firing on vehicles traveling to nearby Ofra when several terrorists shot them in the back. Three fell on the road and were executed by point-blank shots to the head. The fourth, who fell in the bushes, was seriously wounded and evacuated to hospital. The terrorists seized the soldiers' weapons and fled. IDF forces launched a search for the gunmen, placing Ein Yabrud under closure and positioned roadblocks in the area.

Sgt. Elad Pollack last saw his family on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and immediately afterwards returned to the base. He was killed exactly three weeks later, along with St.-Sgt. Erez Idan and Sgt. Roy Yacov Solomon.

Elad, who grew up in Kiryat Motzkin near Haifa, graduated from the ORT High School in his home town. He excelled in basketball and played on the Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin team and well as for Hapoel Haifa. Although offered the option to combine his army service with basketball training at the Wingate Institute, he insisted on combat service, and joined the Duhifat battalian in August 2002. Elad's friends said, "He was convinced that what he was doing was important, and never expressed fears or doubts. He would come home with his personal weaopn and uniform, and was proud of them."

Sgt. Elad Pollack was buried in the Tzur Shalom Cemetery in Kiryat Bialik. He is survived by his parents, Michael and Orly, and a younger brother, Eyal, 14.