Immigrant to Israel and IDF reservist killed in Lebanon

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Ronny Ganizate, who was from France, was on his third round of reserve duty when he fell in battle against Hezbollah forces.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Ronny Ganizate, an immigrant from France who was on his third round of reserve duty, fell in battle in Lebanon, the IDF announced Wednesday.

The 36-year-old father of three was a member of Battalion 5030 in the 228^th (Alon) Brigade.

Another soldier in the same battalion was severely wounded and flown to the hospital.

Ganizate had moved to Israel with his “out of a strong love for the Land of Israel and a desire to be part of and write the history of the Jewish people here,” wrote Ephraim, a personal friend, on Thursday.

“Ronny symbolizes all the values for which we fight,” he wrote.

Another friend, David, described the religious reservist who lived in Givat Shmuel as a “righteous man” and hoped that he would be remembered “as a hero of Israel.”

Everyone who knew him said Ganizate was always smiling and optimistic. Friends of the family said that he had also always taken his reserve duty seriously, going for his periodic training periods “with great enthusiasm.”

He had already served for nearly seven months in two separate rounds since the war broke out last year, before being called up yet again, this time to fight Hezbollah terrorist forces in southern Lebanon.

When he had reached home in the summer, he wrote on Facebook about his dedication to the country’s defense and his gratitude to his wife, Shoshana, who had held down the home front when he was away.

“It’s good to come home,” he wrote. “I have to say a huge, big thank you to my wife who holds down the house, the children, and her job, all by herself. You are a superhero, you deserve a special day! Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity and strength to contribute to our country.”

“We chose to immigrate to Israel, we will not allow anyone to harm it,” he continued. “We will continue to fight until the elimination of our enemies. And many thanks to everyone who helped at home and in the field (equipment, help, support…)! Together we will win! The nation of Israel lives!”

Taking the war to Hezbollah in Lebanon has been a great success so far, according to Chief of Staff Lieut. Gen. Herzi Halevi.

“Hezbollah is making great efforts to hide the significant damage we have done to the organization in recent weeks,” he said Wednesday. “They have undergoing command and control difficulties that lead to confusion at the decision-making level and challenges in their ability to execute. Even in Iran they still don’t understand the depth of the damage to the front post they built on our northern border. We will continue to attack Hezbollah with force, without allowing it respite and recovery.”

Ganizate was the tenth soldier to fall in Lebanon since the IDF began its declared mission to return some 60,000 residents to their homes by destroying Hezbollah’s ability to fire missiles at will at the northern part of Israel, as it has done over 8,000 times over the past year.

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