St-Sgt Tomer Ron

Mar 10, 2003 - St.-Sgt. Tomer Ron, 20, of Moshav Moledet, was killed in an ambush by two terrorists from the cover of an Arab apartment building in Hebron. Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire at about 8:45 P.M. on a group of IDF soldiers patrolling the Hebron-Kiryat Arba road, wounding several lightly. Reinforcements arrived and encountered a group of terrorists hiding in a nearby building. St.-Sgt. Tomer Ron was killed in the exchange of fire which continued throughout the night. At dawn an IDF bulldozer began tearing down the building. The body of one of the terrorists was found in the wreckage. Two organizations - Hamas and Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front-General Command - claimed responsibility for the attack.

Tomer Ron was born on Kibbutz Grofit in the south and moved with his family to Moshav Moledet when he was five. He completed his schooling at the ORT school at Kibbutz Ein Harod. Tomer's friends on the moshav were devastated by the news of his death. "Whoever hasn't grown up on a moshav or kibbutz can never understand the kind of connection that's created among the kids in the same class," said Tamar Ziv, one of Ron's classmates. "Our biggest fear was always that something would happen to one of us."

Tomer did not share this fear, they said. He began his military career in the elite pilot's course, where he stayed for nearly a year before being dropped. He was determined to serve in a combat unit and was sent to Nahal reconnaissance.

"Despite the fact that he was a relatively young soldier, and had completed his training only four months ago, he was one of the best," said reconnaissance commander Capt. Dan. "He contributed, initiated, was socially dominant, and other soldiers followed him. Despite his young age, he was greatly appreciated and we will miss him a lot."

"We are the generation of the Palmah [War of Independence]," said his grandfather, Moti Artzieli. "We've buried a lot of our comrades, but we never imagined that as a grandfather and grandmother we'd have to bury our grandson."

Towards the end of his last year in high school, Tomer took part with classmates from Kibbutz Gvat and Moshav Moledet in a trip to Greece. There he met and became close friends with Assaf Fuchs, killed just a day and a half later near Tulkarm. Both were home on leave last Shabbat, and met in the local pub on Friday night.

St.-Sgt. Tomer Ron was buried in Moshav Moledet. He is survived by his parents, Dafna and Menahem, grandparents, and three younger siblings.