Thousands of people paid their respects to Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, 19, as his funeral procession made its way from his family home in Netanya to his final resting place at the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in northern Tel Aviv on Sunday.
Family members, friends and public figures attended.
Chen, a tank commander in the 77th Battalion, was killed in action at the Nahal Oz post during the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion. Hamas terrorists took his body to the Gaza Strip, where it remained for 760 days.
IDF officers at the funeral praised his crew, which fought “with determination and courage” against the terrorist onslaught.
Of the four-man crew, which consisted of Capt. Daniel Peretz, Sgt. Matan Angrest, Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz and Chen, only Angrest returned alive.
Chen’s remains were returned last week as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and identified by Israel’s National Center of Forensic Medicine on Nov. 5.
Chen, a dual American citizen, was the last kidnapped soldier held in captivity. He is survived by his parents and two brothers.
The family members wore T-shirts with Itay’s picture and the inscription “Our Lion King Forever.”
Itay’s father, Ruby Chen, eulogized his son: “Itay, you were part of a new generation of Zionism, a generation that, to everyone’s sorrow, and to our great grief, was forced to forge its Zionism with fire, blood and mass sacrifice.”
He said his son set a high standard to follow for his friends who were left behind.
Itay’s mother, Hagit Chen, said: “Itay, I’m sorry you waited so long to come home. I defended your honor as much as I could. I told everyone for 25 months how unique, brave, heroic, funny, handsome and talented you were. Everyone has been waiting for you. It’s so terrible that this is the end. I understand that I will have to accept that I will not be able to hug you anymore.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivered a eulogy.
“Beloved Itay Chen, hero of Israel,” said the president, “after more than two years of longing, anguish and pain, you have finally returned home. Today, we stand here together, as a people and a nation, to lay to rest a hero whose story has become a national symbol, whose name is known around the world.”
The president said that through countless meetings with Itay’s parents, the entire nation had come to know his spirit: “We learned to connect that beautiful smile from the photos with a noble soul. ... We learned what strength of character you had, even at such a young age. What a sense of mission, what faith in the justice of our cause.
“Thank you to all the generation you represent,” he said. “Again and again, I am struck by the courage, brilliance and moral light of your generation, the generation of Itay, of his friends, of his peers. A generation of heroes, of hearts of gold, of beacons that will lead us toward a better shared Israeli tomorrow.”
Concluding, Herzog said: “Rubi, Hagit and the beloved Chen family: On behalf of the entire nation, I bow my head before you in awe and gratitude, and I promise: We will remember Itay forever. We will cherish his bravery and devotion, and we will strive to be worthy of him—and of you.”
