Lieutenant-Colonel (res) Shalom Eisner,49, from Jerusalem, mourned the death of his soldier, Warrant Officer (res) Sebastian Haion who was killed in battle near the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza. "He was more like a friend, a partner, than my soldier," he said about Haion.
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For the past two years, Haion struggled against cancer and overcame it, yet chose to volunteer for reserve duty after October 7. Lieutenant Colonel Eisner, said that Haion was "never tired, he had endless energy like a full battery. There were days when I couldn't move anymore and he continued with tasks, drove, led, and fought. Since October 7, he joined the fighting and was part of it until yesterday, except for a few days he took to spend time with his children. He was an amazing father."
"Where the conventional army solutions ended, Saba's solutions began. For example, a truck got hit by a missile and the driver was afraid to get out, a truck's flat tire needed to be replaced, Saba heard about it and the truck returned to Israel. A hundred mines were missing to complete the tunnel demolition under UNRWA. Saba appears and brings a hundred mines," he added.
"One of our secrets is that Saba took the best soldiers to the most dangerous places in Gaza. He drove diesel trucks to the most remote places. He drove thousands of kilometers inside Gaza without a truck license. He learned to drive on the move," he said.
Sebastian Haion's funeral
Haion recently recovered from cancer. Lieutenant Colonel Eisner requested officer ranks for Haion even before he fell, but it wasn't approved. "Saba cared for the entire unit as if it were his family. If a soldier was in crisis, he told me to encourage him. When another soldier's business collapsed, he asked everyone to contribute and we donated money. He was always there for his brothers in arms. There are young people in the unit whom he knew for years, and it's incomprehensible," he said.
Haion's role was extracting convoys from the Strip and special equipment. "His role was solving problems, to deal with the IDF's obscure missions," explained Lieutenant Colonel Eisner. "We were escorting 150 terrorists that we needed to take out of Gaza for interrogation. One of them tried to escape, and Sebastian tried to capture him and was killed," he said
We always had a joke in special missions about who would fall first. On that evening, an hour before he was killed, the division's commander entered and met Saba. The guys told the commander that Saba was the man who would solve all his problems, the only one you could joke with and he would do anything at any cost," he added.
"We're crying. It's allowed to cry, but we have no other home. We must win, so yesterday we sent out another convoy and continued with our missions. I told myself that the cemeteries are full of people who can be replaced, but it's nonsense, he's irreplaceable. Everyone will need to give it their all to make up for our loss," he said.
"Sabastian was a role model and a beacon of light"
Sebastian was laid to rest on Wednesday at the Nahariya cemetery, where he was accompanied by hundreds of family members, friends, and brothers in arms. "I am so proud of you, our son. You are a role model and a beacon of light to all of Israel and especially to me. You were for me the torch that showed me the light," said his mother, Ruth Haion.
Haion left behind a wife and seven children. Some of them eulogized him and described a father unlike anyone else. "My father was a great man, a hero with big dreams," said Shay, his son. "Dad always knew how to educate and love and spread love to anyone who crossed his path. It wasn't always easy to be your son. A man of principles, uncompromising, never resting. He lived every day as if it were two."
His sister shared some words in memory of their father: "You taught us to love the land, the soil, and the sea. We, the children, are the proudest in the world. We wish every child had a father like you. Take care of us. We love you and miss you too much."