Matan Recreation Area Inaugurated in Ilanot Forest

After the unveiling of the stone commemorating Staff Sgt. Matan Gotlib, the ceremony participants found it difficult to disperse.

After the unveiling of the stone commemorating Staff Sgt. Matan Gotlib, a combatant in the elite IDF Maglan unit who was killed in Operation Protective Edge, what happened could very well have symbolized his personality more than anything else: the ceremony participants found it difficult to disperse. Instead, they continued talking to one another, hugging and kissing, reluctant to part from the memories.

Matan Gotlib OBM. Photo: courtesy of Gotlib family

Matan’s death shook us up terribly,” said Menahem Shahak, a friend of the family for thirty-five years. “Matan was the most cheerful and active boy I have ever known. Even when he returned from strenuous training that would have anyone else sleeping for two days, he had energy to go on a hike. I’m saying this as a man that raised three children who served in combat units. He was exceptional.”

On Monday, May 23, 2016, many people gathered to inaugurate the outdoor classroom and recreation area constructed by KKL-JNF to commemorate Matan. His parents, Ruhama and Shmulik Gotlib, were there, together with his brother Nitzan and his eldest brother Omer, who was accompanied by his wife Tal and their baby girl Tea, who had been named after Matan. Her name is an acronym, in Hebrew, for “tamid it-cha ha-lev, our heart is always with you.”

The ceremony was attended by Minister of Environmental Protection Avi Gabai, KKL-JNF Director General Meir Spiegler, and personnel from the Hachshara Insurance Company (HIC), including its Chairman, Eli Elezra. HIC, where Ruhama is employed, donated the funds for developing the beautiful memorial site, which is located in the western section of Ilanot Forest. The pistachio and Tabor oak trees there provide ample shade, which turns the outdoor environmental classroom into a pleasant refuge even in the heat of summer.

Representatives from Maglan, the elite IDF unit in which Matan had served, were also there, genial men who had been in basic training when they met Matan. “Under those conditions, the officers usually keep their distance from the soldiers,” said Ofri Kadosh, one of the representatives from the unit. “Not Matan. He sat with us like one of us and told us about his combat experience. As new recruits, we hung on every word of his, because we wanted so much to know what lay ahead of us. Matan told us that basic training had been the best part of his army service, because it was the only phase in which everyone was together before scattering into different courses and assignments.”

Matan was killed on July 30, 2014, in a search for locating attack tunnels in Khan Yunis in Gaza. His force entered a building that served as an UNRWA clinic, which had been booby trapped by the enemy. Matan was killed in the explosion along with two of his friends, Staff Sgt. Omer Hai and Staff Sgt. Guy Algranati.

We Salute Matan

Michael Ben Abu, KKL-JNF Director of Israel Fundraising, emceed the ceremony, which began with greetings by KKL-JNF Director General Meir Spiegler. “The outdoor classroom and recreation area commemorating Matan are another addition to the many educational activities in which KKL-JNF engages. Every year, tens of thousands of people visit Ilanot Forest, a historic botanical garden that was once an arboretum for acclimating trees from around the world in Israel. Many of the visitors will be coming here. It has been a privilege to meet Matan’s wonderful family, and we are pleased to be at their service and becoming part of the family. What we are seeing here today is only the beginning,” said Spiegler, “and KKL-JNF will be developing this site and making it accessible for all. It’s unfortunate that in Israel we are called upon to undertake projects commemorating young combatants, and we hope that this will not be needed in the future.”

The next speaker was the Minister of Environmental Protection, Avi Gabai. “I didn’t come here today as a government minister but as a friend of Shmulik,” said Gabai. “Matan was one of the seventy-two soldiers and civilians who lost their lives in the course of Operation Protective Edge, combatants who gave and sacrificed everything for our sake. Policy makers have to know that their decisions are fateful and affect the lives of soldiers and their families, and they must make wise decisions.”

Eli Elezra, the Chairman of HIC, embraced the members of the family with his words. “We salute Matan, whose death commits us to live,” said Elezra. “I grew up in a religious home, and our tradition teaches us that a man is truly dead not when his soul leaves his body but only when he is no longer remembered. It is a great privilege for the Hachshara Insurance Company to be taking part in the commemoration of Matan. The nation of Israel has been compelled to live by the sword for thousands of years. In every generation, we are targeted for annihilation. Our protectors are Matan and his friends. Matan didn’t die in vain. It is thanks to him that we are living here in Israel. Ruhama, Shmulik, Nitzan, Omer, Tal and Tea,” said Elezra, addressing the family, “From Matan, we draw the ability to carry on and live our lives, to realize our historical right to an independent state in the land of Israel, and we will continue Matan’s legacy.”

Eti Elishakov, HIC Director General, spoke about the shock felt by the company’s employees when they heard the devastating news about Matan’s death. “I remember that awful day very well,” she said. “The company is like a family, and nothing like this had ever happened to us. We had no idea how to deal with such a tragedy. How do you give consolation? What do you say? What do you do? We would do anything to help.” Turning to Ruhama and Shmulik, Elishakov went on to say, “This site does not have to be the last thing we can do for Matan. Any idea you have, we are here for you, like a real family.”

Ruhama Gotlib gathered her strength and told the audience a little bit about her son Matan. “Matan was born in Rishon Lezion just before the Shavuot holiday, which is what inspired us to name him Matan. He was a happy and outgoing child with a captivating smile. Helping others, social involvement and friendship were the values he upheld. He was whole. He worked hard to achieve what he wanted. He was a boy of peace, always funny, always fun. He knew how to enjoy both the great and the simple things. His teammates described him as the best a friend can be. Matan fell defending the homeland. I hope that the public will have moments of peace and relaxation, on happy occasions, in this spot of his.”

Ruhama thanked everyone who had assisted in actualizing the vision of the site commemorating Matan, especially the staff of the KKL-JNF Central Region, who had spared no efforts in order to find the perfect stone for the memorial inscription. These included Yehiel Cohen, Deputy Director of KKL-JNF Central Region, the architect Bella Nudelman and Shai Cohen, as well as Michael Ben Abu and Yuval Itah from the KKL-JNF Israel Fundraising Department and the personnel involved in producing the ceremony and the signs.

Concluding the ceremony, Michael Ben Abu said, “The death of a person who is close to you, especially the untimely death of a young person, wounds us deeply, perhaps irreparably, but those who leave us, who fall in battle, leave us with a message to go on living.” To end, he recited “Seventy-Two Squills,” a poem he had written for those who fell in Operation Protective Edge.