Hero father died defending her from terrorist, now she joins IDF officer ranks

Daria doesn’t remember anything from the attack. The only thing she does remember of her father is “a figure in uniform.”

By David Isaac, World Israel News

It was 18 years ago that IDF Officer Avraham Gavish was killed defending his family when an Arab terrorist burst into his home in the settlement of Elon Moreh shooting in every direction. Gavish lost his life fighting with the terrorist.

Last week, his daughter Daria received her officer’s commission. She stepped onto the same courtyard where her father had stood 21 years earlier when he became an officer. Avraham served in Sayeret Matkal, widely considered the most elite infantry unit in Israel’s Army.

During the Passover holiday, on March 28, 2002, a terrorist burst into their home in Samaria and shot and killed four members of the Gavish family, Abraham, 25, his parents and his grandfather.

Avraham asked his brother to bring him his rifle as he lay bleeding but was by then too weak to fire a shot. Avraham succeeded in hiding his wife and child under the table, however.

Daria doesn’t remember anything from the attack. The only thing she does remember of her father is “a figure in uniform.”

His daughter received a surprise at the ceremony. Three soldiers who served with her father, including his commanding officer, came to attend.

“I’m happy because I know that he would be proud of me, with all the complexity in the thing, he would be proud of me,” Daria said.

Yemina MK Ayelet Shaked congratulated Daria, “Avraham Gavish was a bold and revered officer in the Sayeret Matkal. When an armed terrorist broke into his parents’ house and shot him, he asked his brother with his last strength to bring him the weapon while his wife Naama hid under the table with her little daughter, and their lives were saved.

“This girl is a soldier in Israel, and successfully completed an officers’ course in the IDF. Daria – Dad is proud of you from above, and we here too salute too,” Shaked wrote.