Kibbutz mourners call for diplomacy
Ha'aretz, August 7, 2003
By Eli Ashkenazi
Kibbutz Sa'ar community director Yair Baumel challenged the government to find a diplomatic solution to the war with Hezbollah yesterday as he eulogized Dave Lalchuk, an American citizen who moved to the kibbutz to become a farmer and was killed by rocket fire Wednesday.
Lalchuk was born and raised in the United States. Leaving behind his parents and siblings, Lalchuk moved to Israel and married Esti, with whom he had two daughters: Yael and Michal.
"Dave's death compels us to ask, with the family's knowledge, several penetrating questions to our leaders and our past and present government ministers," Baumel said at the funeral. "Are you convinced that in the years that have passed, you have done everything possible to prevent an additional eruption of war and additional victims, including Dave - a son and brother with a loving family?"
"Based on the conclusion that the military operations of the past 31 years have not brought quiet to the north, but only more and more bereaved families and graves, what will you do, from today, to stop the chain of wars and victims within the borders of the state where our kibbutz lies?" Baumel asked. "Will you find the diplomatic path, which exists and which we all know what it is, or will you continue to stick, with blind faith, to the gods of killing and bereavement? If your answer is the continued use of the concepts of 'breaking,' 'liquidating,' 'destroying,' 'security strip' and other cliches that have proven to be as strong as cobwebs, then it is better you don't respond at all."
Lalchuk "was a dedicated father, a devoted farmer, who loved people and animals," said another eulogizer. "Dave loved nature, the orchards, the open air. You could say Dave fulfilled the Zionist dream in the heroic, optimal and worst possible way. You could also say Dave was another victim demanded by the Zionist enterprise of its children. But the question is always asked: Are all these victims, including Dave, a necessity? Could the one responsible have created a reality in which Dave did not fall victim?"
Lalchuk decided to stay on the kibbutz when the fighting began so he could continue to care for his orchard and livestock. He was riding his bicycle to the orchard Wednesday when the air-raid siren sounded. He turned around in an effort to reach his reinforced room, and was killed by a rocket at the entrance to his house.
