"I'LL TAKE CARE OF MYSELF," SAID SOLDIER MOSHE MAKUNAN, AND DIED
by Eitan Glickman , Yediot Aharonot, 8.2.02, Translation from Keren Hayesod Solidarity Update

The evening before yesterday, reservist Master Sgt. Moshe Makunan (33) called his wife from Beit She'an, saying: "Tell the girls I love them". Moments later, Moshe was shot to death by a terrorist. Thousands from the Ethiopian community paid their last respects to him yesterday. Moshe had left Ethiopia on foot to immigrate to Israel.

The day before yesterday, a little past 7:30 in the evening, the telephone rang at the home of the Makunan family in Beit She'an. Ya'el Makunan went to answer. On the line was her husband Moshe, who was on reserve duty at Moshav Hamra in the Jordan Valley. "I'm taking care of myself. The most important thing is for you to take care of the girls and tell them I love them," said Moshe to his wife. Suddenly, the reception became poor and the line went dead. Ya'el didn't know it, but that was to be the last time she would hear his voice. A few minutes later, Master Sgt. Moshe Makunan (33) was killed by a terrorist bullet.

Moshe, a reservist in the Israeli Air Force, was scheduled to be released next Thursday and return home. Before the phone conversation was cut off, he managed to promise his wife that he would spend the following weekend with her and their two small children - 4-year-old Eden and 2-year old Noy. "Now I understand that I have lost him forever," murmured Ya'el yesterday, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Moshe was born in Ethiopia. In his youth, he left with his family on an arduous trek on foot through the Sudanese desert, on their way to Israel. "He was always helping people. All his life, he volunteered, helped out and cared for his siblings and ailing parents," recounted his cousin, Yaacov. Thousands from the Ethiopian community arrived at Beit She'an's military cemetery yesterday to accompany Moshe on his final journey. At a certain point, Moshe's mother, Oyash, overcome with grief, collapsed over the fresh grave.

For the last five and a half years, Moshe had worked at the Hazayit plant in Kibbutz Beit Hashita. "He was my best worker," said his employer, Eli Azulay. The plant workers are preparing to assist Makunan's family.

Shvat 5762 - February 2002