Remembrance Day for fallen IDF soldiers and victims of terrorism began on Monday evening with a ceremony at the Western Wall. As part of the "My Hero" project, Israel Police featured the stories of three fallen officers who were killed in service.
Police representatives met with families of fallen officers and discussed with them the difficult moments of loss.
Dep.-Ch. Lior Boker
Dep.-Ch. Lior Boker died in the 2010 Carmel fires and was awarded a medal for his work to save lives in the disaster and for sticking to the task and courage. He was also awarded a medal from the International Police Association.
"Lior only had time to tell me one sentence: 'Nava, I cannot speak right now'," said his widow Nava. "That was the last conversation that I heard from him."
Boker and Ahuva Tomer, who also died in the disaster, were on their way to Givat Wolfson. They heard there were people trapped and decided to go there to save them. On the way, they spotted a burning bus with prison guards trapped inside. Boker and Tomer got trapped in the bus.
"On my way to my sister, I got a phone call from a haredi journalist who knows me a little," said Nava. "He asked me 'Nava, do you know a firefighter by the name of Lior Boker?' I asked him why and he responded with 'I heard he was killed.' That's how I got the message."
Nava added that she hates going to the Carmel forests.
"The place has recovered, but I lost my heart."
Nava Boker
"The place has recovered, but I lost my heart. Lior got a model after his death for saving the lives of others and sacrificing his life. I would give up on the medals to keep him alive."
Senior-NCO Chaimed-Eyal Ben-Hemo
Sr.-NCO Chaim-Eyal Ben-Hemo, an exemplary patrol unit commander in the Kfar Saba police station, was killed during a police chase after two thieves in Neve Yerek in 2021.
His daughter Sgt. Koral Ben-Hemo, who today serves in the same station her father did, recounted the moment she realized she had lost him.
"I came home from the army and saw a bunch of police officers outside my house and understood. It's waking up one morning to a new reality and discovering that you don't have a father. He was the mainstay of the house. Whether it was for holidays or Shabbat, he would cook and do everything."
"It's waking up one morning to a new reality and discovering that you don't have a father."
Sgt. Koral Ben-Hemo
Ch.-Supt. Sharon Manor, the Kfar Saba police station commander, talked about Ben-Hemo.
"He was a commander and a family man," he said. "Not only was he a commander, but he was also a fighter with everything he had. He would go out to shifts, and all the residents of Kfar Saba and Ra'anana knew there was someone looking out for them. There aren't any more people like that man."
Insp. Eran Sovelman
Israel's Counter-terrorism Unit Commander Insp. Eran Sovelman was awarded a Medal of Courage twice for his operational work to eliminate terrorist cells. He showed heroism and courage when he was killed during an operation to locate terrorists in an apartment in Gaza in 1992.
Yaniv Sovelman, Eran's brother, explained the family story.
"My mother was in Auschwitz," he said. "Against all the odds, she succeeded in birthing my brother Eran and me. Iran had a few loves: He had a girlfriend, football, horses, the Counter-terrorism Unit and family. When he joined the Counter-terrorism Unit, his eyes shone."
"When he joined the Counter-terrorism Unit, his eyes shone."
Yaniv Sovelman
"In the Sabara neighborhood in Gaza, we entered through the patio into the house, and after a few meters, we came to a closed door," recalled Supt. Yaron Keiner, Eran's friend in the unit. "Eran was first and me after him. The terrorists had nothing to do. They hide behind a banister and waited for Eran. The moment he opened the door to the second story, he got shot in the head."
Yaniv added that his brother "recognized the terrorist and yelled 'watch out, he has a gun.' I got Eran's gun from the unit, and I carry it with me. The loss gets bigger and bigger. My brother was my strength."