Corporal Hillel Nehemia Ofen Z"L, the soldier from the military engineering unit who tragically died after collapsing during a training course was buried at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem today (Tuesday). Hillel's funeral was supposed to take place yesterday, but the IDF acquiesced to the family's request to appoint a doctor to look into the case instead of carrying out a full autopsy of the body.
The 20-year-old Ofen collapsed yesterday during training at the Adam facility. According to physicians' assessments, he died as a result of dehydration and heat stress with scorching temperatures prevailing throughout the country in recent days.
Following Ofen's death, the ground forces commander ordered all trainings to a halt until 5:00 am Wednesday morning.
In a statement to the media at the Ofen family home in Carmei Tzur, the bereaved father said: "On days (when the country is going through a political crisis), people like to argue, but maintaining unity was Hillel's will. On his last Shabbat, I asked him if other soldiers were discussing refusals to serve and he replied that no one in the army was interested in the matter. Hillel's message to the public was - keep the army out of controversies."
"Hillel always did his utmost," added his father Boaz. "We are not holding an investigations into the incident and hope that the IDF will improve on past experience, and examine it without blaming others. We need a comprehensive solution for everything that took place."
"Every one of his siblings received special treatment from Hillel. He did not walk left or right, everything was straight, he had a straight and clean look that shown from his eyes," said the soldier's mother, Hanital.
"Hillel is survived by his parents and five brothers and sisters. We were devastated upon receiving the tragic news, which befell the Ofen family. Hillel enlisted in an elite unit in order to contribute to the State. He was part of a family with deep roots here in Gush Etzion" added one of the founding families of the Har Etzion Yeshiva.
