St-Sgt Mordechai -Mor- Sayada

June 13, 2003 - St.-Sgt. Mordechai (Mor) Sayada, 22, of Tirat Carmel, a company medic in the Golani Brigade, was shot and killed by a Palestinian sniper while on a jeep patrol of Jenin.

Speaking on Israel Radio, his uncle said Sayada was raised in a Zionist family and had a religious education. "His family is like any other whose sons serve in combat units," he said. "At 2:30 on Friday afternoon he spoke with his mother and then I spoke with him. He was concerned for his father, who is hospitalized. I didn't think it would be my last conversation with him."

Sayada's best friend, Oren, related that "I phoned him to wish him a peaceful Shabbat, as usual. I spoke with him an hour before he was killed. He was supposed to go home on leave, because his father was about to undergo catheterization. The company commander told him he should go, but he didn't agree."

Another friend related: "We're soldiers in a company that was commanded by the late Maj. Avihu Ya'acov, who was killed in Nablus. Together with Mor, our brigade has lost nine men."

St.-Sgt. Mordechai (Mor) Sayada was buried at the Haifa Military Cemetery. He is survived by his parents, Eliassaf and Yael, two younger sisters, and three younger brothers.