Max Donald Steinberg (; November 27, 1989 – July 20, 2014) was an

American-Israeli Israeli Americans () are Americans who are of full or partial Israeli descent. The Israeli-American community, while predominantly Jewish, also includes various ethnic and religious minorities reflective of Israel's diverse demographics. This c ...

soldier in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

killed in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

during the

2014 Gaza War The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...

. A

lone soldier A lone soldier (, ''Ḥayal Boded'') is a member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who does not have support in Israel, either because they do not have immediate family in Israel or they are estranged from their family in Israel. Lone soldiers s ...

, his funeral in Israel was attended by over 30,000 people, including the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Early life and move to Israel

Max Donald Steinberg, son of Stuart and Evelyn (Evie) Steinberg, was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

, and was Jewish. He graduated from

El Camino Real High School El Camino Real Charter High School (also known locally as "ECR" or "Elco") is an independent charter secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United State ...

and

Los Angeles Pierce College Los Angeles Pierce College, shortened to Pierce College or simply Pierce, is a public community college in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Woodland Hills in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College Distri ...

. He first visited

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in June 2012 on a

Birthright Israel Taglit-Birthright Israel (), also known as Birthright Israel or simply Birthright, is a free ten-day heritage trip to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights for young adults of Jewish heritage between the ages of 18 and 26. The program is spon ...

trip. He then returned to Israel in September 2012, to make ''

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

'' in December 2012 and to join the

(IDF) as a

. In Israel, Steinberg lived in

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

and was a

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

in the Gideon Battalion of the

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade (, ''Hativat Golani'') is an Israeli military infantry brigade. It is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Is ...

from early 2013. He was one of 6,000 lone soldiers without family in Israel, 1,100 of whom were from the United States.

Death, funeral, and legacy

On July 20, 2014, Steinberg and six members of the Golani Brigade were riding in an

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

Shuja'iyya Shuja'iyya (), also ''Shejaiya'', ''Shijaiyeh'', ''Shujayya'', ''Shuja'ia'', ''Shuja'iya'', is the southern quarter of Old City of Gaza, and the only quarter of the Old City located outside the historical city walls. It is one of the largest neig ...

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

, during the Battle of Shuja'iyya in the fourth day of Operation Protective Edge (the

), when it was hit by explosives laid by the Palestinian militant group

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

, and the stalled vehicle was hit by a Hamas

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a missile guidance, guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy armoured fighting vehicle, heavily armored military v ...

. He was killed, along with six other IDF soldiers. According to the Israeli government, Steinberg's unit had been attempting to locate

Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels The Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels are smuggling tunnels that had been dug under the Philadelphi Route along the Egypt–Gaza border. They were dug to subvert the blockade of the Gaza Strip to smuggle in fuel, food, weapons and other goods int ...

in Shuja'iyya that were being used by Hamas. Steinberg and another American-Israeli lone soldier Nissim "Sean" Carmeli were among 13 IDF soldiers killed during the initial clashes between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in July 2014. Steinberg's funeral was held on Mt. Herzl in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, Israel's

national cemetery The following is a partial list of prominent National Cemeteries: Africa Algeria * El Alia Cemetery, Algiers Burundi * Mausolée des Martyrs de la Démocratie, Bujumbura Ghana * Asomdwee Park, Accra * Burma Camp Military Cemetery, Accra ...

, on July 23, 2015. It was attended by approximately 30,000 people. At the funeral, U.S. ambassador to Israel

Dan Shapiro Daniel Benjamin "Dan" Shapiro (born August 1, 1969) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2017. He was nominated by President Barack Obama on March 29, 2011, and confirmed by the Senate on May 29. ...

gave a eulogy on behalf of the United States. Hours before the funeral, U.S. secretary of state

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

had met with Israeli prime minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

, United Nations Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

, and Palestinian Authority President

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

to negotiate a ceasefire. Kerry also met with Steinberg's family in Israel. Upon hearing that Steinberg was a fan of the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, businessman and team owner

Robert Kraft Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainmen ...

wrote a letter to the family offering his condolences. Americans for Ben-Gurion University established the Max Steinberg Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund, to commemorate his service by providing full scholarships to

Ben-Gurion University Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli national founder David Ben-Gurion, the university was founded in 1969 and currently has f ...

for IDF combat

reservist A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person ca ...

s in perpetuity, with preference going to lone soldiers. In July 2015, Birthright Israel dedicated a memorial site to Steinberg at the site of the ancient synagogue of

Arbel Arbel () is a moshav in northern Israel. Located beside Mount Arbel next to the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lower Galilee Regional Council. In its population was . Arbel was established in 1949 by demobiliz ...

, Israel.

References

External links

* Tovah Lazaroff (July 23, 2014)
"Fallen IDF soldier Max Steinberg: A Lion of Zion; Remembering the IDF volunteer and LA native who was laid to rest on Wednesday,"
''The Jerusalem Post''.

''Los Angeles Times''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinberg, Max 1989 births 2014 deaths 21st-century American Jews American emigrants to Israel Burials at Mount Herzl Israeli Jews Israeli military personnel killed in action Israeli people of American-Jewish descent Jewish American military personnel Lone soldiers in the Israeli military Los Angeles Pierce College alumni Military personnel from Los Angeles Military snipers People from Beersheba People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles

Early life and move to Israel

Death, funeral, and legacy

See also

References

External links