“There isn’t a moment that I don’t speak of her or think of what could have been,” Rivana Tendler, the mother of Sgt. Maj. Keren Tendler, told JNS recently, almost 20 years after her death.
Sgt. Maj. Keren Tendler was a flight mechanic in a Yas’ur (CH-53) Sea Stallion heavy-lift transport helicopter squadron and the only female IDF soldier killed in an operational combat role during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
Tendler enlisted at 17, graduated from an Air Force course and was assigned to Tel Nof Airbase, where she trained and qualified as Israel’s first female helicopter flight mechanic, completing the program in January 2002. (She also became parachute-qualified.) A Yas’ur crew typically includes two pilots and two airborne mechanics, with a third mechanic added during combat operations.
“She completed missions inside and outside the country. She was very tired but enjoyed every minute,” her mother said. “During the huge fires in Greece in the 2000s, her commander called at 5 a.m. to ask if she wanted to fly there; she jumped with happiness. My husband drove her to Tel Nof in flip-flops. She flew to Greece and was even interviewed on Galei Tzahal, the IDF radio station. It was a moment of great happiness.”
After completing her service, Tendler began studying law while continuing reserve duty. On July 12, 2006, she called her mother to report that Hezbollah had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, and killed eight others, sparking the Second Lebanon War.
“She was very upset and wanted to take part in the war effort. She insisted until her commander allowed her to join a mission,” Tendler said. On Aug. 11, 2006, she helped deploy troops into Lebanon and returned that night. “When I asked how it was, she said ‘quiet’ to reassure me. Only later did I learn a missile had been fired at them but missed.”
Tendler returned to Lebanon the following day, Aug. 12. Before the mission, she asked her brother for a knife in case she was captured.
Her helicopter had just transported 54 soldiers, including paratroopers and medical personnel, and was preparing to return to Israel when it was struck by a Hezbollah missile. The aircraft crashed, killing all five crew members.
Paratroopers on the ground could not approach the burning wreckage but secured the site to prevent Hezbollah from seizing the bodies.
Initially, only four bodies were recovered. Tendler, who had been near the ramp, was likely thrown from the aircraft by the explosion. Her body was later retrieved by soldiers from the IAF’s Shaldag commando and Unit 669 heliborne combat search and rescue extraction units.
Due to a ceasefire, her body could not be evacuated by air. The soldiers hid during the day and carried her body on foot for 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) overnight back to Israel.
Part of the country’s history
“All of this took four days. We were in hysteria—we didn’t eat or drink,” her mother said. “We immigrated to Israel from Romania on Aug. 17, 1976, and we buried Keren exactly 30 years later, on Aug. 16, 2006. We were new immigrants, and we became part of the country’s history in a way we never imagined.”
The family has worked to preserve her memory, including publishing a book about her life, Almat Hashamayim (“Maiden of the Heavens”).
“Keren was a great athlete. Once a year, we organize a sports competition in her honor with the municipality of Rehovot, where she was born,” her mother said.
The Keren Tendler Memorial Garden in Rehovot was used as a public gym during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in recent years, the city approved graffiti murals in her honor.
“Memorials won’t bring our daughter back, but they help us cope, even 20 years later,” Rivana said. “Many have fallen in recent years. There is always a fear that they will be forgotten. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Tendler’s squadron is expected to receive new helicopters, and her parents have been invited to the ceremony. The current commander has also sought their approval to produce a film about the five crew members killed in the crash.
“The squadron is her second home,” Rivana said. “I stay in touch with other bereaved families. The fear of being forgotten only grows with time.”
Tendler was 26 when she was killed; she would have turned 27 the following month. Her mother described her as determined and driven.
“I think of what could have been. She didn’t get to have a family or become a lawyer. I see her friends now married with children. She could have achieved so much, but it all ended on Aug. 12, 2006,” she said.
“It’s not easy. We were very close—we used to go shopping together. My husband still dreams of her returning,” she added. Rivana described her daughter as a symbol, citing her love of people, her desire to help others, her determination and her devotion to Israel.
Keren Tendler left behind a letter written on July 25, 2006, in which she set aside personal wishes and instead prayed for the safety of IDF soldiers, the return of the two kidnapped soldiers and the preservation of the State of Israel.
“They read it at every ceremony because it is still relevant,” her mother said.
