Ahmad Abu Latif, 26 from Rahat and a dedicated reserve fighter in the 8208th Battalion, 261st Division, was among the soldiers killed on Monday in the incident in the center of the Gaza Strip, in which 21 soldiers died in total.
Ahmad Abu Latif, known among many students at Ben-Gurion University where he served as security staff, leaves behind a grieving family, including a wife, an 11-month-old daughter, his parents, and 11 siblings. Posthumously promoted from the rank of Staff-Sergeant-Major (Res.) to Warrant Officer (Res.) by the IDF, Abu Latif’s death is deeply mourned.
Ahmad deeply believed in coexistence
Abu Latif wrote extensively about his feelings on coexistence and collaboration between Israel’s various populations in a poignant social media post in October, during the early days of the ongoing conflict. While his post was initially intended to assure university students of their safety and inspire their cooperation with one another, its words hold new weight with Abu Latif’s passing.
“For me, the people I live and work with are my brothers and sisters, and we all live together and respect each other in our land. I am proud to be a Bedouin who served in the IDF… I had the privilege to defend and protect in a meaningful service that I will never forget,” he wrote. “I’m happy when I can travel in Israel with my friends and I’m happiest when they learn Arabic, try to speak with me in Arabic, and ask me to help them.”
“Since the outbreak of the war, we’ve heard a lot about the [positive] involvement of Arab civilians. Unfortunately among the casualties of war are Bedouin and Druze soldiers, Muslims and Christians, who fell as heroes during the defense of the country,” he continued.
“The Bedouin community mourns the civilian victims who were murdered for no injustice – Jews, Christians, or Muslims. And I want to take this opportunity to inspire everyone who reads this! We all share the same destiny and we must be together and united,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, there are people who do not believe in cooperation between sectors; [they] try to threaten, provoke, and destroy relationships — to undermine trust. Do not believe them, and do not let this happen.”
In the closing words of his post, Abu Latif emphasized the critical value of unity and mutual respect among Israel’s diverse populations and cultures.
“Every day at the university, I see students helping each other in good deeds and in times of trouble, always seeing the person on the other side,” he wrote. “We must preserve this security and unity!”
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