Funeral of IDF soldier Avraham Azulay

The funeral of Master Sergeant (Res.) Abraham Azulay, 27, an Israeli settler from the illegal Shaked outpost in the hills of Itamar and a member of the Uriah force operating in Khan Younis, took place at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

Azulay was killed on July 9 while operating an engineering vehicle during a wide-scale demolition mission in Khan Younis which included the demolition of Palestinian homes, just three months after his wedding. He is the son of Yitzhak and Yifat Azulay from the settlement of Elazar in Gush Etzion. Hundreds of family members and friends were attending his funeral.

Azoulay is the third casualty from Itamar since the outbreak of the war He was among the many residents of Itamar who came to assist the IDF in Gaza with heavy engineering equipment in the Uriah force funded by an Leberbom, a leader of extremist settlers advocating for ethnic cleansing in West Bank and Gaza strip.

An extremist settler involved in an ethnic cleansing ideology

As a teenager, he moved to Yitzhar — a settlement in the occupied West Bank known for its extremist ideology and hostility toward Palestinians. There, he reportedly founded a construction company that operated under a "Hebrew Labor" policy, employing only Jewish workers. More recently, he relocated to Havat Shaked (Shaked Farm), an unauthorized outpost built on privately owned Palestinian land.

The broader context surrounding his life and death highlights disturbing policies and ideologies that continue to shape the occupation. For example, public broadcaster Kan has reported on other "Hebrew Work" businesses from Yitzhar — a term referring to employment practices that exclude Palestinian workers. In Yitzhar itself, residents have installed signage barring Arabs from entering the settlement, including for critical services. In one incident, a Palestinian medical worker was reportedly denied entry while attempting to conduct COVID-19 testing.

Excerpt of eulogies published in the Israeli press (Israel National News):

Rabbi David Dudkevitch, the rabbi of the Itamar community, eulogized the fallen soldier: "How beloved you were. All your life, you and your friends were soldiers without uniforms, from morning until night, emissaries of the nation. From the righteous war, you left your home, your wife, and went to ascend to the altar of our father Abraham."

Rabbi Chaim Ben-Shushan also delivered a eulogy: "Abraham, a hero, a man of war, quiet, modest, and graceful. God-fearing, we learned Torah together, diligent. A hero and a righteous man. You went out to conquer the land and settle it. You went out to erase the seed of Amalek from the world."

A friend of his eulogized and shouted a message to the government: "Our people are scarred from this strip of land, we’ve been carrying scars for too many years from such a small, foul place. Remove everyone from there, end this story, and return governance to the people."