On Wednesday morning, 16 July 2008, after 735 days on uncertainty, the bodies of Eldad Regev (of blessed memory) and Ehud Goldwasser (of blessed memory) were returned to Israel.
Ehud Goldwasser z”l was laid to rest on Thursday 17 July 2008.
His mother Miki said the following at his funeral:
“I won’t cry, not now. I stand at attention before you with my eyes lifted towards my people with the request: Stand tall, lift your heads in national pride. I hope we can see this war as a victory. We have revealed a strong people and wonderful youths. We have revealed bereaved families with undefeatable, powerful spirit, we have revealed kindness. We have revealed commitment, and the meaning of the word friendship”.
His wife, Karnit Goldwasser eulogised her husband:
“On July 12, at 9:06, time stopped. A journey began for both of us – you and me – us and the family, the State and you. You and I are going on to the next journey, the journey of my life. You will continue to be my inner voice, an eternally young man who will accompany me throughout my entire life.
“They say time heals all wounds… But is this really so? Two years have passed since that debilitating moment that cut through our life’s vein; the moment in which the worst scenario became a threatening reality that forced us to dive into a dark and convoluted world. We’ve experienced two difficult years, filled with ups and downs. I believed and hoped that the moment would come where I would wake up and say it was all just a dream. Will time heal all wounds?”
“Please forgive me, my darling husband, for not [talking about] your many virtues here, those which accompanied me every step of the way during the struggle for your return. This isn’t the place to do that.. With your permission, the personal farewell I’ll do on my own time.”
Biography
Udi (32) was born in Nahariya on 07/18/1975. He is the son of Miki and Shlomo and elder brother of Yair (27) and Gadi (24). He married Karnit 10 months ago, after 9 years of seeing each other. Udi and Karnit share a great love and a very special relationship.
Udi is a graduate of the science class in “Amal Comprehensive High School”, Nahariya. He served in the combat battalion “Tzabar Givati”. After his military service he toured Australia alone on a motorcycle for half a year. Later, he completed his preparatory studies in the Technion and went on to study environmental engineering.
Udi is a kind and much loved person. He is considerate of other people’s opinions even if they oppose his own. It’s fun being in his company. He is a loving caring person, always ready to offer a helping hand in any situation. He is a man of principles and values, knowledgeable in many varied subjects. He loves movies, music and spending time with his friends.
He has many friends from the different periods of his life: His childhood friends with whom he grew up in Nahariya, pals from the army, friends from the Technion and friends from his travels around the world. Conservation of the environment is of the utmost importance to him. Indeed, he joined a Green group so as to help clean our nature reserves.
Udi loves animals, and although he suffers from a mild fur allergy, he lives with two cats and lovingly adopted “mishehoo” (“someone”), an abandoned and injured dog he found in the street. He is a sworn lover of motorcycles and has encyclopedic knowledge of all models made all over the world and their technical details.
Over the last few years he has developed a great interest in photography. He spends much of his spare time taking pictures of scenery and nature in Israel and abroad. Lately, his hobby has become a profession having begun to work on some projects as a photographer.
As a child he sailed the seas with his father, and has recently got his “skipper” license for sailing yachts and was planning to sail abroad.
Udi has a special love for children. He is always talking proudly of the kids in his family and of his friends’ kids. Karnit and he are dreaming of their own addition to their family!
On the 07/12/2006 Udi was abducted to Lebanon after Hezbollah attacked his military patrol.
Source: Habanim