Michael Levin (; February 17, 1984,

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States – August 1, 2006, Ayta ash Shab, Lebanon) was an American-Israeli soldier in the

Paratroopers Brigade The 35th Paratroopers Brigade (, ''Hativat HaTzanhanim'') is an Israeli military airborne infantry brigade. It is a selective unit, which accepts new recruits following physical tryouts and interviews, and consists of volunteers. It forms a m ...

of 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 ...

(IDF) who was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

in the

Second Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

. Levin's death had a major impact in Israel. Thousands of people attended his funeral, and his death inspired the creation of the Lone Soldier Center, a support organization for other lone soldiers in the IDF. A memorial to him was built 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 ...

Early life

Levin grew up in Holland in

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

, Pennsylvania, the grandson of two Holocaust survivors. In the summers, he attended

Camp Ramah Camp Ramah () is a network of Jewish summer camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camps operate in the United States, Canada, and Israel. All Ramah camps serve kosher food and are Shabbat-observant. History During the 1940s, th ...

, a

Jewish summer camp A Jewish summer camp is a summer camp dedicated to Jewish communities. In the United States these camps grew in popularity in the years after World War II and the Holocaust as an effort by American Jewish leaders to preserve and produce authentic ...

. Inspired by the stories of his grandparents, Levin made ''

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 ...

'' and moved to

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 2002 at the age of 18. He spent a year in an ''

ulpan An ulpan (), plural ''ulpanim'', is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning "studio", "teaching", or "instruction". The ulpan is designed to teach adult immigrants to Israel the basic language s ...

'' studying Hebrew and volunteering on

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Tirat Zvi Tirat Zvi (, lit. ''Zvi Castle'') is a religious kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley, ten kilometers south of the city of Beit She'an, Israel, just west of the Jordan River and the Israel-Jordan border. It falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of ...

, before joining the

(IDF). As a foreign-born soldier without immediate family in Israel, Levin was considered a lone soldier in the IDF. When Levin enlisted, there were an estimated 2,300 lone soldiers, approximately 120 of whom were American.

IDF service

Levin had completed 2 years in the IDF when the

broke out between Israel and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in July 2006. Levin was in Battalion 890 of the IDF's

. When the war erupted, Levin ended his home leave in Pennsylvania and rejoined his unit stationed on Israel's northern border with Lebanon. Omer Yaniv, from Levin's paratrooper unit, gave a graphic description of the chaotic circumstances surrounding his death. The 890th Paratrooper Battalion came under heavy fire as they advanced into the town. The IDF soldiers could not identify the source of the fire. The battalion's units got separated when running for cover. Levin's platoon hid in the back room of an empty store. A

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

fighter managed to get close and fire straight into the small room, hitting Levin in the head. After several hours reinforcements reached the building and extracted them.

Death

Levin was one of three IDF soldiers killed in Ayta ash Shab that day. Another 27 on the Israeli side were wounded. For several hours the Israeli soldiers fought and killed 15 Hezbollah fighters, according to IDF figures. The IDF's wounded were treated at the spot under heavy fire, as an evacuation was deemed almost impossible. A local commander of Hezbollah guided

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

through Ayta ash Shab after the war and showed them the store where Levin was killed. Levin was the first American and 36th IDF soldier killed during the Second Lebanon War. Of the 41 IDF soldiers killed during the war, three were lone soldiers.

Funeral and legacy

Levin was buried on August 3 at Mt. Herzl, 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 ...

. Levin's death was credited with increasing interest from lone soldiers in serving in the IDF and improving the resources to support them. By 2014, there were more than 5,700 lone soldiers in the IDF. In addition, there were four Lone Soldier Centers set up in Levin's honor to provide housing, meals, and cultural acclimation support to lone soldiers. A memorial for Levin was erected at

Ammunition Hill Ammunition Hill (, ''Giv'at HaTahmoshet''; ) was a fortified Jordanian military post in the northern part of Jordanian-ruled East Jerusalem and the western slope of Mount Scopus. It was the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Six-Day Wa ...

, Jerusalem, the site of a major

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

of 1967. The Lone Soldier Center in Memory of Michael Levin was created in 2009 by a group of people who had served as " lone soldiers" in the IDF. The center operates from branches in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. It provides services to lone soldiers such as help finding housing, counseling, and organized meals on Jewish holidays and the Jewish Sabbath. On August 1, 2011, the 5th anniversary (" yarzheit") of Levin's death according to the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

, a flag was flown over the US Capitol in his memory at the request of a man from his local area, Johnson Reynolds, who considered him both an Israeli and American hero. Upon receiving the flag from the architect of the Capitol, Reynolds, at the invitation of an IDF battalion commander, traveled with several friends to Israel and on September 21, 2011, accompanied by a member of the IDF, flew that flag over Levin's resting place at Mt. Herzl. On June 27, 2012 they presented the flag to Levin's parents, Mark and Harriet Levin, in a case with the assistance of Consul General Daniel Kutner of the Israeli consulate of Philadelphia.

References

External links