Sergeant Yael Leibushor

Daughter of Gili and Haggay
Sister of Ido (18 years old) and Tamar (13 years old)

Yael was born in Jerusalem on December 16, 2002. She is the eldest daughter of Gili, a clinical psychologist, and Haggay, a civil engineer, the Israel Mapping Center Jerusalem Region's director. When she was five years old, she moved with her family to Moshav Ge'a near Ashkelon and was the fourth generation of the Leibushor family in the moshav that became a home for her.
Yael studied at the Makif high school in Kfar Silver in the "Mofet" class for outstanding students and successfully completed the matriculation exams. She was modest about her achievements and was always happy to help students who were struggling with their studies.
The kind-hearted and diligent Yael invested her time and efforts in social activities and volunteering: she was a cadet in the "Bnei Moshavim" youth movement and later on was appointed as an instructor in the movement. After finishing high school, she volunteered for a year of volunteering service at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Mitzpe Ramon.
At the end of that year, until her enlisting to the army, she volunteered to help farmers in the Beit Hillel settlement in the northern region where she worked in the lettuce and eggplant crops.Yael was born in Jerusalem on December 16, 2002. She is the eldest daughter of Gili, a clinical psychologist, and Haggay, a civil engineer, the Israel Mapping Center Jerusalem Region's director. When she was five years old, she moved with her family to Moshav Ge'a near Ashkelon and was the fourth generation of the Leibushor family in the moshav that became a home for her.
Yael studied at the Makif high school in Kfar Silver in the "Mofet" class for outstanding students and successfully completed the matriculation exams. She was modest about her achievements and was always happy to help students who were struggling with their studies.
The kind-hearted and diligent Yael invested her time and efforts in social activities and volunteering: she was a cadet in the "Bnei Moshavim" youth movement and later on was appointed as an instructor in the movement. After finishing high school, she volunteered for a year of volunteering service at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Mitzpe Ramon.
At the end of that year, until her enlisting to the army, she volunteered to help farmers in the Beit Hillel settlement in the northern region where she worked in the lettuce and eggplant crops.

Yael enlisted to the IDF in October 2022 and served as a field observer in the Nahal Oz outpost. She wanted to serve in an operations room in the front, which is considered more professional and where her service could be significant.

Yael showed high academic abilities, outstanding self-discipline and a desire to do things "the right way". She brought these assets with her to the army and for that she was greatly appreciated by her commanders.

Yael's friends who served with her said that they liked to work shifts with Yael because they trusted her for her professionalism and wilingness to always gladly help them.

The battalion commanders manning the outpost at that rotation also appreciated Yael. Female field observers are marked with position numbers, Yael was "Pascal 76". It was the Golani brigade company comnmander who gave her the nickname "Pascal 76, the best there is". Yael was privileged to hear this compliment from him during her lifetime.
Yael loved her friends in the army dearly. They kept maintaining together an extraordinary atmosphere, they were loyal and kind and always took care of each other.

On the morning of October 7, 2023, Yael was stationed on duty at the operation room. The base staff informed her family that her performance on duty was phenomenal. Yael saw with her own eyes the 150 terrorists who infiltrated the station. She understood the severity of the event but did not lose her cool and continued to be "The eyes for the soldiers" - providing them with reports and schedules of the terrorists' infiltration. Her performance that day testified to a high level of professionalism and adherence to the mission in the extreme circumstances in which she operated. Yael fell during the battle of Nahal Oz outpost.

Yael's mother wrote some memoirs about her hobbies and her special character:

"We always say about Yael that she was born in the wrong century - she really loved embroidery, it was her favorite hobby. Actually it was much more than a hobby, it was really a part of who she was. There is elegance in the embroidery as there was in Yael, the embroidery was part of what she brought into friendships - she embroidered bookmarks for books for her friends who like to read, embroidered butterflies and flowers on the belts of her friends (if anyone sees a soldier with an embroidered soldier I.D. card holder, know that she was Yael's friend), during her training, all her friends' bags, for those who had already been discharged and went abroad, she embroidered a cover for the passport or a patch for the bag, she embroidered birthday gifts. Even in her life we ​​realized that one of the things she does miraculously is forge friendships, tight and close as her embroidery. She knew how to build intense, warm and authentic friendships, she was a true friend - sensitive, attentive, knew how to keep a secret (but really keep it). She was the central pole that holds the group together - a group some of whom she knew from the day she was born and they went through all their childhood and adolescence together. Her friends called her "Yaelove". Our friend Osnat read a eulogy at her funeral and said that this nickname is a mashup between YAEL and LOVE. When the army asked about her belongings, we asked that only the cloth bag with her embroidery be returned to us, we said that if we don't find clothes, etc., we don't care, just the embroidery bag. But unfortunately the bag was burned in the operations room.

Yael loved nature and traveling, and felt extremely connected to the desert. That's why she went for a year of volunteer service in the Society for the Protection of Nature at the Har Hanegev Field School. It was the most wonderful year of her life, a combination of everything she loved - the desert, educational training, and friends. After the service she wanted to volunteer as a "Turtlesitter" - those people who guard the nests of sea turtle eggs until they hatch and make sure that the turtles don't get lost and go to sea after they hatch. Her dream was to do the Israel Trail and we decided we would do it for her. Yaeli had no ego, a person of people, she saw the other in a wonderful way and was very, very loved both by her friends and in the army. On her grave it is written: Lover of people. soul of the desert, friendship embroiderer. Beloved by all of us."

Yael attended an agricultural high school and loved the weekly shifts at the barn to which she was assigned as part of her school duties.

Yael's favorite cake was a maple cake. The cake recipe was published on a commemorative Instagram page of recipes that the fallen loved.

Yael's favorite song was the treasured Israeli poet Yona Wallach's "Ayala" performed by the Alma Band. In the attached link, enclosed a special Kastina Productions recording of the song in her memory on the thirtieth day of her fall.

In Yael's memory, commemorative pages were set up on Instagram and Facebook. Her mother writes to her every day on a commemorative website that was set up in her memory. The link to the website. 

Another link that commemorates Yael on Instagram.

Yael's family and friends held a march in her memory to the Nahal Oz memorial. They also put on an exciting performance in the desert for her 21st birthday, which is available in the link.

A Spotify playlist calles "Yaelist" in Yael's memory is being planned these days. The link.

Yael's funeral march was photographed and documented by Yaron Weinstein. In the background of the powerful video, played the canonic Israeli song "One Human Tissue" written by Moti Hamer, sanctifying human life and our commitment to each other, sung by the famous Israeli singer Chava Alberstein. The link to the video.

Below is the eulogy delivered by Yael's mother at her funeral:
"Farewell to yaeli
This moment when I opened a new file on the computer tonight, and then I had to name it. Clicking - save as: Farewell to Yaeli. Then I had to choose where I save this file, where do I store it? Tell me - to which directory does our separation from our daughter belong? The truth is that it simply does not belong anywhere, because this whole separation has no place. Who here stands today and believes that Yaeli is no more? Who stands here and feels that this belongs to the group of events thae could happen? Who has the space in which we can store the understanding that we will never ever ever see her again? Won't hug her anymore? won't see that smile? won't hear that laughter? Won't travel with her? Won't see her walking in the Moshav? "Ma! I'm taking myself out for a spin" she would say. No matter how much storage volume is bought, there will be no room for any such directory because it has no place and it can't be stored. For the benefit of our friends, I will say - this, does not follow.

This funeral is a funeral of consensus. I think that among everyone who is here there is a consensus that this is a girl with a different kind of presence, who had something in her that perhaps the best word to describe it is real, and clean and good - devoid of ego, loving with all her heart and soul, with real joy and light in her eyes. There is a consensus about that caring girl in the deepest and purest sense of the word. Kindness to people, animals and the environment. After all, how did our dog Tsutsik come to us? Someone just left it at the entrance to the kindergarten when you were 5 years old, and you saw a little puppy without his mother, in a box and you said to me "Mom, let's take him" and since then he has been with us for 14 years, only thanks of you. How much you loved him, and how hard it was for you when he died this year. Yaeli has been to the hairdresser once in her entire life. Not because she had her hair cut, Haggay would sit her on the purple bench at home and cut her hair. So why only once? Because this is the time when, after a year and a half of deliberately extending her hair, she went to donate it. Does that surprise you? Guess not. Going for a year of volunteer service, volunteering in agriculture, the desire to be a turtlesitter - for those who don't understand "Yaelish", this means guarding turtle nests on the beach. How many times have you said to me, "Ma, how can I help you?" You saw, in your kindness you saw. I always told you that the day you were born you made the world a better place.

I think, and here I should be more careful, that there is a consensus here that there was something classy and elegant about you, that you might have belonged to other times in history - in my opinion, most to the time of Jane Eyre. Tell me, in whose life is an embroiderer in these days? My Yaeli, concretely embroidered butterflies on friends' belts, and for the entire R&D team you embroidered farewell gifts and for the initiative team you embroidered door signs. You embroidered for your aunt her favorite flower, you embroidered for me my favorite picture of us - you and me on the little crater. And when they wanted to make you happy - then they made you a bag for embroidery and Grandma Judith would buy you threads, and they bought you special scissors and a sewing box. Even when you were on call, and there were 4 hours in which you don't do anything - you would sit and embroider and I would tell you that this has never been seen in the military - a soldier embroiders. But Yaeli also weaved other things - you weaved brave relationships with your friends. Actually, this is the time that I need to change and say - YaeLove, you forged real, brave, honest, supportive relationships with your friends, some of whom you grew up with from birth and some from the moment you arrived at the Moshav. You were good friends, really. With the commissioner, coffee set in the orchard, and hanging out at the beach, and with us upstairs, and the parties that my car suffered from. And there were conversations, many conversations, and consultations and you entrusted each other with the most delicate aspects of your soul. And also forged special relationships with the parents of your friends who loved you like a daughter. Forging bonds, which we thought would last a lifetime, with your friends in the commune in the Negev Mountains, the one about you told me once a month - "Mom, how right it was to go there again, how accurate it was for me. That year just keep fueling me" . Yaeli, you loved the people and the place, at every opportunity you returned there, to Mitzpe Ramon, your favorite place in the world - Ramon Crater. This is another quality that Yaeli had - the ability to determine for herself what is right and suitable for her and what is good for her. You forged a brave bond with Bonnie - your favorite teddy bear in the world, the one that Grandpa Hanan and Grandma Rachel brought you. He is here with us, you could not say goodbye to him, he is still staying in your room, so he also came to say goodbye to you.
You made connections with the friends in your rotationand with the officer who also gave you a name - Yaeliz. You created amazing atmosphere in impossible conditions. In the last conversation between you and me, when I took you to the bus station, we talked about this - what you were able to create that there and I told you that I think it has to do with your character - your special presence, the one that allows groups of people to be the best version of themselves. There is also a consensus there as you were told - Pascal 76 is the best there is. You really were the best there is and they trusted you, they knew you understood the magnitude of your responsibility. It's no secret that it wasn't easy for you there at first, but even in this not easy situation you did your best - you really understood what was at stake, you understood deeply what it means to be in the outpost and take care of the soldiers and the border of Israel. In retrospect, i believe you understood better than anyone, that's why you were horrified. But you acted just like you told me - "I won't forgive myself if I don't try to cope" you stayed, you coped and you were the best there is. In all the things of your life, I think it was the least accurate place for you, but the way you weave things made it yours.
You forged special relationships with your siblings. You gave Ido the name "Boy", that's what they call him at home, and Tamari gave you the name "Titi". You were a wonderful group, you liked the same things, you had so much in common and were close, and they hurt so much from your passing, the fact that they no longer have an older sister. They haven't fully digested it yet, because it's really hard to digest - what does it mean that you're missing a sister? Temari sends you messages knowing you won't answer, but that's how she talks to you. Idodi's eyes are so full of deep sorrow.
You forged a unique relationship with a father who would take you on a trip wherever you wanted. A relationship of deep love since you were tiny. Haggay, my friends, is a renowned storyteller. Every child has the story he liked the most that Haggay read to - for Yaeli it was the book "Getting the Moon Down" about a rat who wanted to get the moon down and found out that it was really complicated. Thanks to this book, dad would tell you that he loves you to the moon and back, and even now when you were a grown man we would tell you that we love you to the moon and back. Tamri wrote yesterday - I love you to heaven and back.
And speaking of the moon. Our dear knightly friends,That evening we all remember at the foot of Mount Ardon, exactly one year ago. The one where Yaeli stood on a rock and gave us all the lecture of our lives on the sky. This moment symbolized to us - what you were to her. We will discover that guiding by the stars was not the thing that at the time Yaeli felt the most confident to do. But she stood there and gave a guidance to remember - and I told myself that she allowed herself to be like that, with full confidence and presence because she felt very, very safe in this group, to be present. Really, I've never heard her instruct with such confidence. You were a family and safe space for her, she loved you and you loved her. You were a second family to her and we thank you for that.
You forged a special bond with Grandpa Jackie and Grandma Judith. You had your own world that we were not a part of - you would run it alone. What kind of girl calls her grandparents every day? Which girl when she has a day off goes to spend time with grandparents? And you knew her, what she likes and wants, and she felt that she had another home.
You created a relationship with me that is really hard to describe in words. A delicate interweaving of a relationship between a mother and a daughter that is clearly not a close bond but is the deepest bond in the world. We were connected by the bellybutton. I knew your deepest secrets because you allowed it. I knew almost everything about you - except for what you really made sure we didn't know and that is - your playlist. How many times have we heard the words "you are like a copy of eachother". And I would answer - true, but that it is a more sophisticated operating system. We used to say that if we had a Shekel for every time we were told that, we would be millionaires. The truth is that we were millionaires - there is no greater wealth than the relationship between a mother and daughter. I really got to know you, we had conversations about everything - you allowed me to be, to support, to think together, to debate. Some of you have already heard me say this - I have no sense of missing the past. I don't say to myself "It's a shame that I didn't..." I have a great acceptance for what happened while I had you in this world. About the role I had in your life and the role you had in my life. There are only two things you were angry with me about - that I inherited you my wide legs and that I opened an email for you as a girl whose address was Yalilive - you told me ""Now for the rest of my life it will be Yaeli" Even when I am 30 years old and I send the email to people they will call me Yaeli - what am I 4 years old?"- What a shame you won't be thirty. How in this world is it possible - that I will never smell your favorite perfume, that is no longer manufactured, but that we in a national operation have obtained all the remaining stock in the State of Israel. How is it possible that I will never call you again from the bottom of the stairs and expect you to answer me? How is it possible that I don't have you anymore?
When I read this paragraph I felt that I could not convey in words the strength of the connection between us. Know it's bigger than what I said here. And then I decided that I was allowed to cut myself some slackand say - that now I just can't find these words, they will come. In general, I will say that both Haggay and I feel very strongly the attack of this loss on our soul and also on our cognitive faculties that has weakened a bit in the last few days. I'll confess and say that yesterday I went into the shower with my glasses on without noticing. It's hard to pay attention, when the heart is heavy.
I think those who are here will agree that everyone loved you Yaeli. really. This is not a cliché. Although we wrote in the obitury that Yaeli is dear to us, but we know that she is also dear to your hearts. What makes me happy is that I know you knew that. You knew you were loved by your friends, by your family, by your friends' parents, by your teachers who loved you so much and knew that you being in their class is an asset, not only because you are so smart and an amazing student, but your presence does something different to the human space no matter where you are. You knew you were loved and that you loved. I said that I don't have a feeling of missing out on the past, because I think you knew how to live life, you lived a full and good life that was right for you, but I have a feeling of missing out on the future - all this love of yours was not yet with a partner, you won't be a mother either, and that's a huge miss for the world, that you won't manage to keep spreading the best in you. The world missed out when you were gone. If when you were born you made the world a better place, what does it mean for the world now when you were killed? I know that the computer will have a directory with photos and memories, but one day it will stop filling up, because we will have already stored everything and there will be no more new moments with you, and I just can't contain that. When it's over, it's really over, we won't have even one more moment with you.

Yaeli, you changed the world of so many people, you moved them from one status in life to another. You were our first child and made us parents, you were the first great-granddaughter and made Grandma Ora a great-grandmother, you were the first granddaughter and made Grandma Rachel and Grandpa Hanan and Grandma Yehudit and Grandpa Jackie - grandparents. You were the first niece and made Roni and Tomer and Asaf and Tomer uncles. And you also changed the rest of the extended family to the status that I don't know what their official name is - but I know that you touched each and every one of them and was dearto their hearts. And now, my love, you have changed everyone's status - forget for a moment the official status of a bereaved family and what I believe to be a valid term - bereaved friends. Our status now is injured. Some of us are mortally wounded, some of us are seriously or in other degrees of injury, There is not one person here that isnot standing here today without a wound in their soul. "We are all one living human tissue - and if one of us leaves, something dies in us and something stays with her."
You always fell. We called you Oopsie - "Oopsie I bumped in the door", "Oopsie I fell on the way". Your friends from the commune remember some iconic falls in the creeks. It always left you with bruised legs that healed. Now you have fallen. You fell and you will not get up. You failed in the performance of your duty, and there will be a consensus here as well, because you are doing your duty. I wish it was possible for you to get up from this fall, hug you and quote from the song I always quoted to you when you fell emotionally or physically - "My only role is to wipe off your tears". Now I'm in tears, I know it will happen a lot, because it hurts, really, really hurts in my heart. The black and blues that we have in our souls now will change over the years to shades of green and purple, but we know they will never disappear, they are not hemorrhages that will be absorbed, they will remain and we will learn to live with them. You fell but we promised not to fall.
We know the term "closed military area", the one that no matter what you do, the entry is forbidden to it. In the last few days I have been working hard on not having a "closed mental area" in me - to keep my heart open to everything that this thing brings, to keep my heart open to the wound so that it can heal and I won't block it. Trying not to put a tourniquet on the bleeding now so I don't have a tourniquet in my heart later.

We will not fall thanks to the amazing men and women who are with us, and they are a real safety net for us. We want to thank you for everything you have already done for us in the terrible days we have passed (it is important to say that within this we know that everyone in the country is going through unbearable days, and that no one is really breathing here and that one day I will also address this and demand answers, and believe me I will demand). There were terrible days of crazy uncertainty - it was hard to hope, not knowing what to hope for, worrying so much. There were unreal moments of your uncles walking around with your DNA, talking to the whole world in search of a clue. How hard it was to walk down the street and talk to you, to ask you to come back. How many times have I written to you - please please get back to me. Every little thing reminds you and the heart suffers a lightning strike, a stroke of pain. It is difficult to contain the insight that in the last moment of your life you were afraid and that I was not there with you. I promise you my girl that we did everything to understand what happened to you, to understand if we have a way to save you. We had no choice. Know that we did not abandon you, we turned the world upside down to find you, we did not wait for anyone, but you were killed on the spot.

Everyone at home knows which bouquet of flowers must never be brought to mom - a bouquet with gerberas. Hates gerberas and cypresses - since the day I realized what funerals of young people look like. And here I am and surely in a second they will put gerberas on you.
There is no logical place to store your go. In the obituary that the army sent today, nothing stunned me anymore except for five words: Daughter of Haggay and Gili. what a girl you were. You will always be our daughter, we loved and will always love you to the moon and back.
I love you, mom, we love you dad mom Ido and Tamar."

This commemorative page was compiled using materials published in the links listed above as well as in the "Media Convention" listed below.