Kalkidan’s mother learned in Ethiopia that her son was killed
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Family of Kalkidan Meharim, an IDF soldier who fell in battle in Gaza today, remember him as a ‘dreamer’ and ‘the best of us.’
Apr 29, 2024 at 11:25 PM (GMT+3)
The mother of Master Sergeant (res.) Kalkidan Meharim, who was killed in battle in the Gaza Strip today, learned of her son’s death while in Ethiopia.
Kalkidan’s nine siblings gathered this evening in Ramat Gan, at his eldest brother’s house, to be together at this time. Their mother, who still lives in Ethiopia, received the devastating news at her home.
Now the siblings are waiting for their mother to fly to Israel for the funeral.
Kalkidan, 37, lived in Ofakim for most of his adult life and worked in security. Two years ago, he changed professions and began working as a bus driver for the Dan company, moving to Petah Tikva.
He immigrated to Israel nearly 20 years ago and immediately enlisted in the IDF.
His niece paid tribute to him, saying, “Kalkidan, my uncle, my mother’s little brother, fell in battle in Gaza.”
“They are right when they say that it is always the best of us. The high-quality, the Zionists, the most optimistic, the biggest lovers of the people and the country. Our most elite was taken from us. The one who immigrated to Israel alone at the age of 18, left his beloved mother in Ethiopia and set out with determination to fulfill his dream,” she wrote on X.
She added: “He always knew how to keep in touch with his mother from far away. He would visit, send money, call and check on her welfare. The cry that came out of her when she was informed at her home in Addis Ababa of the death of her soldier son – we heard all the way to Jerusalem, and our hearts trembled.”
Master Sergeant Ido Aviv was killed in the same battle in which Kalkidan was killed.
