Staff Sergeant Yam Glas

Daughter of Anat and Lior
Sister of Peleg and Rif

Yam was born and raised in Modiin. She moved to the Netherlands in 2016 because of her father’s work. She graduated from high school in Almere (the Netherlands), and successfully completed her international matriculation exams. The family returned to Israel in the summer of 2021, shortly before Yam and Peleg (her brother) joined the Army.

Yam’s family says that she was a beautiful person - both inside and out. She was a hard-working and ambitious student and succeeded in every endeavor.

Yam had hopes and dreams. She was looking forward to the end of her military service so that she could travel to Japan together with her childhood friends from the Netherlands. She had already bought the plane tickets.

Yam taught herself to design websites. She intended to study computer science and work in the IT industry.

She had met her boyfriend, Alon Nachmias, about four months before her death. Their love was put to an abrupt end.

Yam joined the IDF on March 21, 2022, and was a trained surveillance soldier. She wanted to serve in the Gaza District, which was considered to be an interesting and challenging post.

She was initially posted to Reim Base in the Gaza Sector as a surveillance soldier (observation balloons). Later, and pursuant to her commanders’ recommendations, she completed a commanders course. After the course, Yam and another course member were appointed Observation Commanders at Nachal Oz Outpost. This is considered to be the frontmost post in that sector, and the one that entails the most operational action. Yam was proud of being chosen to serve at this post.

During her service at Nachal Oz Outpost, Yam witnessed countless security incidents. She also served in the Gaza Strip during two operations that were launched against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Operation Break of Dawn on August 5-7, 2022 and Operation Shield and Arrow on May 9-13, 2023.

Yam was on shift duty at the Operations Room on October 7, 2023. When the terrorist attack began, yam and her friends called in the IDF to defend the sector’s settlements. They were able to function until all of their surveillance equipment was disabled. It was at that point that they moved to the Safe Room at the OC. After Hamas terrorists penetrated the base, they set the operations room in which Yam was staying on fire.

Yam’s fate remained unknown for a long time, and there were even concerns that she was abducted and taken to Gaza. The bad news about her death in battle on October 7, 2023 was received by her family only four weeks later.

Yam loved music. During her early years in the Netherlands, she learned how to play the drums and formed a band with her friends from school.

Yam spent most of her free time drawing and knitting. The “Yami’s Lavender” Commemoration Project that was founded by her army friends (Arava Yuval Shani and Tamar Levy) is dedicated to her favorite hobby – knitting (and the lavender flowers that she loved to incorporate into her work).

Yam’s favorite singer was Israeli singer Alon Eder.

In an interview for Modiin News (a local newspaper), her family mentioned that Yam loved her dog (“Chewy”), and that most of her photos featured him. He was her best friend.

The city of Modiin hosted a ceremony to rename a street after Yam on January 20, 2024. This street is located near Lebanon Tower Park, where Yam grew up. The ceremony was attended by her family and friends.

The violinist Rachel Ringelstein and the “Carmel Quartet” launched the “Belev Yam” Project together with Yam’s boyfriend. This is a musical commemoration project in Yam’s memory. The concert will take place in November 2024, about a year after her death. It is sponsored by the Felicia Blumenthal Music Center. The concert will include songs written and composed by Yam’s boyfriend, Alon Nachmias, and performed by her favorite singers, as well as songs written by her mother, Anat Glas, and bow instrument quartet pieces performed by the Carmel Quartet. The project will also feature paintings drawn by Anat in Yam’s memory. The concert will be recorded and will serve as a musical monument in Yam’s memory.

The crowdfunding website that was created for the Belev Yam Project includes works of art that are associated with and that commemorate Yam. The project features some of Yam’s friends from the army, Arava Yuval Shani and Tamar Levy, who created a lavender bouquet knitting project inspired by the lavender flowers that Yam used to knit. Yuval Ross, Yam’s cousin, designed a thumb-shaped necklace. Yam used to raise her thumb in her photographs, and this was a symbol of her optimism and joy. Yuval also designd a necklace in the shape of a shark because Yam planned to get a tattoo of a shark before she died. Yuval also designed a necklace in the shape of a fish. When Yam left Reim Base, she gave her friends a fish-shaped necklace that they could attach to their dog tags. When her friends asked her, “why are you giving us a dead fish?” She said, “because that’s me!” These products can be viewed here.