Family of Soldier Killed Escorting Researcher in Lebanon Leaves Israel, Citing IDF's Handling of the Case | Israel Politics Post
Family of Soldier Killed Escorting Researcher in Lebanon Leaves Israel, Citing IDF's Handling of the Case
Sgt. Gur Kehati died trying to save a 71-year-old researcher ambushed by Hezbollah operatives in 2024. Nearly two years later, his family says the military's response has left them unable to find peace at home.
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By Israel Politics Post Staff·Published
Sgt. Gur Kehati in IDF uniform · Source: Israel Defense Forces, via The Times of Israel
The family of Sgt. Gur Kehati, a 20-year-old Golani medic killed in southwest Lebanon in 2024, has relocated abroad to Crete, saying the military's handling of the incident and its aftermath left them unable to find solace in Israel, The Times of Israel reported.
Kehati was part of a Golani brigade detachment escorting Ze'ev Erlich, a 71-year-old researcher who had been granted access to a medieval fortress in southwest Lebanon while wearing an IDF uniform, when Hezbollah operatives ambushed the group on November 20, 2024. Both Erlich and Kehati, who rushed to help the wounded researcher, were killed in the attack.
Kehati's mother, Maayan, said the slow pace of the investigation and the absence of real consequences for those responsible compounded the family's grief. "We can't find solace here," she said. "We can't recover here." An internal inquiry, only presented to the family in July 2026, found that dozens of senior commanders had for years permitted Erlich access to active combat zones; the officer who approved the fatal visit, Col. (res.) Yoav Yarom, stepped down months after the incident but was not prosecuted.
In protest over how the case was handled, the family removed Kehati's military headstone in December 2025 and placed it outside IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. One of his siblings remains in Israel and continues to serve in the military.
