Army buddies of Yishai Shalem, 33, a former combatant in the elite Sayeret Matkal reconnaissance unit where the ones who found and extricated his body from the fatal hiking trip.

Yishai z”l liked to re-connect with nature, heading south to Nachal Ketura, about 40km (24 miles) north of Eilat, to be with nature. That was the case last Thursday (May 21st) when he left his Herzliya home. This time, he didn’t return. Yesterday, Monday, his army buddies who volunteered to take part in the search, found his lifeless body at the bottom of a ravine.

His sister Maiya explained she knew something was wrong when he did not arrive to pick up his children from daycare. She phoned their father Aaron who immediately contacted Yishai’s army buddies, who quickly gathered and headed south to get involved in the search.

The air force took part in the search, providing illumination flares as the sun went down. As the hours and days passed, the feeling became increasingly difficult, with the soldiers of the elite reserve unit aware that the lack of any signs of life from Yishai was not a healthy reality. When the body was found, it was evident that he fell to his death, about a 50 meter fall.

Yishai is survived by his wife Karen and their children, Soul (7) Emanuel (3) and parents Aaron and Rachel and two siblings, Amid and Maiya. He is being buried on Tuesday at 6:00pm in the Moshav HaBanim Cemetery.

In another tragic story, hiker Ilan Galil, 22, also a veteran of an elite IDF unit, disappeared while hiking in the south on Thursday. His body was recovered a day earlier, in the Judean Desert.

Ilan z”l fell to his death while hiking in the Nachal Arugot area, a common pastime for him, as a nature buff.

His car was discovered by Israel Nature Society officials on Shabbos, giving the first signal of trouble that the Gadera resident is missing. After efforts to contact him failed, rescue teams were called in to search for the missing hiker.

Authorities once again urge any and all hikers never to set out alone, even seasoned professionals, and to remain on marked authorized trails.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)