Ofer (Pushko) Moskovich, Killed by IDF Fire, Reburied in His Home Kibbutz
Four months after being killed by accidental IDF artillery fire during Operation "Lion's Roar," Ofer (Pushko) Moskovich was laid to rest in Kibbutz Misgav Am. Hundreds gathered to honor the Galilee farmer.
About four months after he was killed by mistake by IDF artillery fire in the midst of Operation "Lion's Roar," Ofer (Pushko) Moskovich was laid to rest today (Thursday) for the second time. He was buried in his home kibbutz, Misgav Am, on the Lebanese border.
While relatively few people accompanied him to his initial funeral at a temporary plot in the Kibbutz Amiad cemetery due to Home Front Command guidelines and wartime risks, today hundreds of friends and loved ones gathered to pay their final respects to the Galilee farmer, who had become a symbol of settlement, land stewardship, and Zionism.
Senior officers from the 91st Division and the Northern Command also attended the ceremony to pay their respects, seeking to mend the rift that had opened between the settlement and the army following the accidental fire that led to his death.
Pushko's family delivered new eulogies in his memory. "Four months have passed, and honestly, I still don't grasp it at all, Dad," said Dekel Moskovich, his eldest daughter. She thanked him for "33 years of love, joy, laughter until your stomach hurts, and an upbringing rooted in the love of man, our beautiful Galilee, and the Land of Israel."
Nurit Rapoport, a member of Kibbutz Misgav Am, described in her eulogy how Pushko's passing left a void in the community. "I didn't know how much Pushko touched so many people here. We will remember his wide, kind heart and his booming laugh—one of the symbols of Misgav Am," she said.
Ofer Sivan, a close friend who co-hosted an agriculture radio program with Pushko, noted that the community gathering after the burial was exactly what he would have wanted. In his honor, Noam Ehrlich, owner of the "Bierlich" brewery in neighboring Kibbutz Manara, released a special edition lager inscribed with "Mahar LeHar" (From mountain to mountain), a motto emphasizing the mutual responsibility of mountain settlements.
On March 22, the 60-year-old Moskovich, manager of the avocado crops at Kibbutz Misgav Am, was killed when artillery fire hit his vehicle directly. An IDF investigation conducted after the disaster noted that a series of deficiencies and serious operational errors occurred in the planning and execution of the fire. The shelling was carried out at an incorrect angle and not in accordance with required procedures, resulting in five shells hitting the Misgav Am ridge instead of enemy targets.
