The Israel Defense Forces held an Armored Corps “beret march” on Friday at the Yad La-Shiryon memorial in Latrun, west of Jerusalem, where two released hostages from the Gaza war joined new tank troops at the completion of their basic training.
(Yad La-Shiryon is the Armored Corps Memorial Site and Museum.)
Former Hamas captives Nimrod Cohen and Matan Angrest marched with the recruits and later presented certificates of excellence alongside Brig. Gen. Ohad Maoz, the IDF’s chief Armored Corps officer, the army said.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Angrest fought in the Peretz tank crew as driver under Capt. Daniel Peretz, together with loader Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz and gunner Staff Sgt. Itay Hen, while Cohen served as gunner in the Naotrah crew under Capt. Omer Naotrah with driver Sgt. Shaked Dahan and loader Staff Sgt. Oz Daniel; all of those comrades were killed in action and brought to burial in Israel, the statement said.
The IDF noted that the Armored Corps had eight soldiers taken hostage in the war, including Angrest and Cohen, who returned alive, and six others whose bodies were later recovered.
“The combat teams that fell in battle, we will not forget them for a moment, and we will never abandon their families,” Maoz said, calling the ceremony “the realization of the commandment of every soldier and commander in the IDF—we do not leave anyone behind.”
