"They took a diamond from us. They took our strength. They took our soul." This is how Amnon Svilem described the loss of his eldest son, Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, who fell in the shooting attack near Hebron on Friday.
In a painful interview with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News as his family prepared to lay Yuval to rest, Amnon voices harsh claims against the IDF, reveals the malfunctions in Yuval's weapon, and demands a thorough investigation into the circumstances of his son's death. He says his family warned Yuval about the dangers of serving in the area, but he had not imagined that this was how it would end.
"There was a very severe military failure here," the bereaved father says. "We are waiting for answers." He claims that his son, who enlisted in the Home Front Command and served as a combat soldier in the Search and Rescue Brigade, was placed in a forward position in a dangerous area, while the family understood from him that his role would be in a setting further away from the front line.
Amnon says that when Yuval told the family that he was being stationed in Hebron, they feared for his safety. He describes conversations in which he asked his son to take extra caution, particularly amid the extra tensions in the region during the olive harvest.
"I told him, 'Yuval, be careful. You are in a very hot time," he recounts. He says Yuval tried to calm him down and explained that he was not in an exposed position. "He told me, 'Dad, I am in the cockpit; you have nothing to fear. I am not in an exposed position, I'm high-up."
However, his words did not reduce the concern. "We left with a very difficult feeling. We told him, 'Stay safe, be strong.'"
One of the questions that Amnon is seeking answers to regards the fallen soldier's weapon. He claims that his son told the family that his gun was jamming before he arrived in the area, and that attempts were made to repair it. The father adds that the family was notified that the weapon malfunctioned during the incident as well.
"His gun jammed before he got there. They tried to repair his gun," he claims. "We know about the malfunction that his gun had. He told us that his gun jammed; he had malfunctions."
The family is also seeing fault in the location of the position in which the troops were stationed. According to Amnon, the structure and the area around the troops limited their line of sight and enabled the terrorists to approach without being detected in time. He claims that the terrorists approached from behind and surprised the soldiers.
"This location was a hazard. This was not a place where soldiers should have been stationed," he said. "They came up behind them and caught them by surprise. There was negligence here, a very serious military failure."
The father said that a structure near the soldiers' position had been demolished following the attack, but emphasized that he did not know exactly when the demolition had taken place. He said he wanted to understand why the dangers at the site had not been addressed before the attack and why the soldiers had been stationed at that particular location.
"We want a proper investigation," he said. "To really understand where, what, and how such a failure happened."
He reiterated that, in his view, the investigation should also examine the decision to deploy soldiers from the IDF's Search and Rescue Brigade on the front line, rather than focusing solely on the sequence of events during the attack.
Despite his serious allegations, the father also wanted to share who Yuval was outside of his military uniform. He described his eldest son as someone deeply devoted to his family, his friends, and the people who had been part of his life since childhood.
"Yuval was a wonderful young man. A child, a diamond in the crown, the central diamond in the crown," he said. "He was my eldest son. An outstanding young man with an extraordinary soul."
According to his father, Yuval grew up in religious and Torah educational institutions and was deeply attached to his home.
"A special child who loved his home, loved his family, loved his friends," his father recalled.
One of the stories he chose to share concerned a caregiver who had looked after Yuval for many years, from the age of three until he was twenty. According to his father, even after growing up and enlisting in the military, Yuval maintained contact with her, visited her, and made sure she was doing well. If he could not visit her in the morning, he would try to stop by later in the day or on Shabbat.
During the most recent Sukkot holiday, his father recalled, Yuval bought potted plants to decorate the family's sukkah but made sure to set some aside for his caregiver.
"He said, 'This plant is going to my caregiver's house, so she'll have it, and it will make her happy,'" his father recalled.
According to Amnon, that relationship reflected the way Yuval treated those around him. He never forgot the people who had cared for him during his childhood and continued to express his affection through visits and small gestures.
When asked about his relationship with his eldest son, the bereaved father struggled to find the words.
"My eldest son. My right-hand man, my strength, my support. A child beyond description," he said. "They took a diamond from us. They took my strength, they took my soul. Mine and the entire family's."
The father also described the family's devastating condition since receiving the news. He said family members were struggling to eat and function, while he himself was finding it difficult to cope with having to inform additional relatives of the tragedy.
"Our home has been destroyed. We have no home anymore," he said. "Since Friday, we have been living in agony. I haven't eaten since Friday. My wife isn't eating. The children aren't eating. The family is shattered."
Amnon said he had only informed his mother of her grandson's death that day, fearing that the devastating news would harm her.
"We are not living, we are dead. We are walking around, but we are dead," he said.
Amid his grief and pain, the father also presented a forceful demand to the state: the deportation from Israel of the immediate family members of the terrorists who carried out the attack.
He argued that such punishment could encourage families to report relatives planning terrorist attacks to the security authorities in advance.
"I demand of the state, the army, and all the judicial authorities: Enough is enough," he said. "I want their entire families removed from this country."
He later clarified that he was demanding their deportation, not their relocation to another area within the Palestinian Authority.
Amnon argued that the terrorists' family members should have known about their intentions and warned the security forces.
According to him, if family members knew that a terrorist attack would result in their deportation, they would take action to prevent it.
"If they knew that this was what would happen to them, that they would not be allowed to remain in this country, I promise you they would run to the authorities and turn them in," he said.
During the interview, the father also issued an explicit warning that if the authorities failed to meet his demand, he and others would take the law into their own hands.
"If the army can't do it, if the state can't do it, if the court won't do it, I will do it," he said.
Amnon emphasized that he wanted to see measures taken to prevent the next terrorist attack. He said he did not want another family to experience the tragedy his family was enduring and viewed punishment of terrorists' families as a deterrent.
"I don't want there to be another soldier tomorrow," he said.
Despite his harsh criticism, Amnon said he viewed Yuval's actions during the incident as an expression of his devotion as a soldier. According to his father, Yuval attempted to help his fellow soldier and repel the terrorists, and he believes that his actions helped prevent an even more serious attack.
"My son just prevented a very serious terrorist attack," he said. "He went to save his friend. He went to repel those terrorists."
The father added that, according to the information available to him, the terrorists were carrying a large quantity of weapons, and he also raised questions about where those weapons had come from.
Toward the end of the interview, the father reiterated his demand for a full investigation into the incident, including an examination of the condition of Yuval's weapon, the deployment of the soldiers, and the characteristics of the position where they were attacked.
"We are waiting for proper answers from the army," he said. "We want a proper investigation."
"We will not give up," Amnon added. "Whoever was responsible for the failure must face the consequences."