The burial place of fallen IDF soldier Pvt. Yaakov Zarihan, who was killed in 1948 during Operation Harel, has been identified after 78 years. Zarihan, whose grave had remained unknown since Israel’s War of Independence, was found to have been buried in a mass grave at the military cemetery in Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim together with seven other fallen IDF soldiers.

Zarihan fell while taking part in the supply convoys to besieged Yerushalayim. His convoy set out for the city on April 20, 1948, with about 300 vehicles and armored vehicles, and he was killed in battle near Sha’ar HaGai together with 13 other members of the convoy. He was buried two days later, on April 22, at the military cemetery in Kiryat Anavim, but his exact burial place remained unknown for decades.

After years of efforts to determine his fate, the IDF established a special investigation team in 2024 to locate Zarihan’s burial place. The investigation included locating and analyzing documents, questioning witnesses, studying the terrain and conducting archaeological surveys. Those efforts led investigators to conclude that Zarihan had been buried in the Harel Brigade cemetery at Kiryat Anavim together with seven other fallen soldiers.

His family, including his sisters, was updated Tuesday night by Chief Human Resources Officer and head of the IDF Casualties Directorate Brig. Gen. Edna Ilya, who informed them that the investigation had been completed and the mystery solved. In the coming weeks, a state military ceremony will be held to add a headstone bearing Zarihan’s name at the cemetery in Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim.

Zarihan made aliyah from Casablanca, Morocco, in December 1947 as part of the Habonim movement aboard the immigrant ship Haportzim. He joined the Hasneh training group at Kibbutz Ramat HaKovesh, which was intended to settle at Kibbutz Bror Chayil. He enlisted on April 12, 1948, in the transportation service and was attached as an operational driver to the Etzioni Brigade.

“For me, finding his burial place means the world,” said his sister, Yvonne Cohen. “My sons will be able to say Kaddish at his grave for the first time.”

“This is a moving closing of a circle,” said Brig. Gen. Ilya. “It is a privilege for us to continue acting out of a deep moral commitment to bring comfort and to accompany the bereaved families.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)