Sept 18, 2007 - St.-Sgt. Ben-Zion Haneman, 21, of Moshav Nov in the Golan Heights, was killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists during IDF activity against a terror attack being jointly planned by operatives of the Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organizations in the Ein Beit Ilmeh refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus.
Staff-Sergeant Ben-Zion Haneman sustained a severe wound from a bullet that penetrated the seam of his flak jacket and entered his chest. He died in a helicopter en route to hospital. Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the shooting.
Ben-Zion was to have finished his service in the Paratrooper Brigade's elite Reconnaissance Unit in two weeks. Brig. Gen. Tibon noted that although Ben-Zion was about to end his term of army service, he did not hesitate to place himself at the forefront of the IDF force entering the terrorist neighborhood.
A neighbor described Haneman as "handsome, inside and out, a quiet guy who loved his family and his friends, the land and its scenery." Ben-Zion's dream after completing his army service was to travel the world, his older brother Roi said, and then to study agriculture and become part of the family's vineyard and organic olive grove business.
Haneman was born in Susya, in the southern Hebron hills. Later, the family moved to Moshav Nov, a small religious community in the Golan Heights. After he finished yeshiva high school studies in Jerusalem, Haneman studied for a time at a yeshiva in Mitzpe Ramon before going in to the army and joining the paratroop reconnaissance unit.
"There were people in the moshav who thought he'd be a pilot like his dad and another relative, but he wanted to be in the infantry," community member Devorah Bar said yesterday.
St.-Sgt. Ben-Zion Haneman was buried in military section of the Golan Heights regional cemetery. He is survived by his parents, Tamar and Yaakov, three brothers and six sisters.
St.-Sgt. Ben-Zion Haneman photographed moments before he was killed.
(IDF Spokesman)