An Israel Defense Forces soldier performing volunteer reserve service was mortally wounded during operational activity in Southern Lebanon on Friday.
Warrant Officer (res.) Barak Kalfon, from Adi in northern Israel, was an employee of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Married and the father of two, he would have turned 49 next month.
Two soldiers sustained moderate injuries, while another was lightly wounded in the same incident.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended his condolences on behalf of all Israeli citizens to Kalfon’s family and wished a “speedy recovery” to the wounded. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “Barak was a courageous and devoted fighter and a model family man.”
“Our hearts are broken with the fall of Barak, a son of our valley,” said Shlomit Shihor Reichman, head of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council, in a statement.
“Especially in these days, as we approach Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror, the pain takes on an additional, chilling meaning. Barak chose to serve and contribute to the state out of a sense of mission and love of the land. The Jezreel Valley embraces the Kalfon family and the entire Adi community. The pain is unbearable, and we stand with the family in this difficult time,” she added.
Kiryat-Motzkin Mayor Tziki Avisar eulogized Kalfon on Facebook with stories that depict his special character.
As a mechanical engineer at Rafael, Kalfon played a “key role” in strategic defense projects, the mayor said.
Since the outbreak of the war, “he lived in total dedication, combining two fronts: the laboratory and the battlefield, often finishing a workday at Rafael and driving directly to the front line without going home, to replace a friend who had gone for rest,” Avisar continued.
“Already in the first round of the war, he stood out as a brave fighter who saved the lives of many soldiers,” he added.
He further stated in the eulogy that Kalfon was the first to enter a booby-trapped building in southwestern Lebanon, some two miles from the border, alongside the company commander, absorbing the main force of the blast. He later succumbed to his wounds at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa.
Kalfon was born in Haifa and grew up in nearby Kiryat Bialik. He leaves behind his wife, Shimrit; and their daughters, Noga and Mia.
He enlisted in the IDF as a combat soldier in the Paratroopers Brigade. After his discharge, he completed a degree in mechanical engineering at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.
