Rebecca Henrietta Johanna Baruch

Rebecca Henrietta Johanna Baruch was born in the Netherlands on 3 February 1999, the daughter of Sasha and Robert and sister of Margalit and Asher. She grew up in The Hague, where the family home welcomed relatives and guests for Sabbath and holiday meals. She loved reading and playing the guitar, played football and trained in judo, earning a brown belt. During her school years she was active in the Habonim Dror youth movement, and in her final school year she served on its leadership team.

In 2017 she immigrated to Israel on her own. She made her home in Ramat Gan, alongside friends who supported her. She attended a pre-military preparatory program in Sderot, and in 2018 enlisted as a lone soldier through Garin Tzabar, living at Kibbutz Sa'ad. She chose combat service, completed officer training and served as a commander in the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps in the Gaza border region. She completed her extended service in March 2023. In civilian life she continued leading youth movement activities, taught at the Dutch school in Israel and prepared to study mathematics and linguistics at Tel Aviv University.

On 7 October 2023 she volunteered to return to service. After being called up for reserve duty, she was assigned to the Air Force, and on 13 October joined a unit responsible for ground security for Iron Dome. During her service she became ill and was taken to Sheba Medical Center. Her family and friends remained beside her during her hospitalization, but her condition deteriorated. She died of her illness on 21 January 2024, 11 Shevat 5784, aged twenty-four, and was laid to rest at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

Her final wish was to donate her organs, and her family honored it. According to the Izkor website, her donation saved four lives. Her gravestone bears the words she used to say about her service: I had the privilege. Ramat Gan Municipality planted a tree in her memory, and her family initiated a lookout bearing her name in the Ma'ale Gilboa area. She is survived by her parents, a brother and a sister. May her memory be a blessing.