Frouma Gallant, mother of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, passed away on Thursday aged 88.
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Born in Poland, Frouma survived the Holocaust and arrived in Israel aboard the Exodus immigration ship where she began a new life.
The Defense Ministry issues a statement saying that “Defense Minister Gallant continues to oversee operational details,” as the minister is in mourning during the ongoing Operation Shield and Arrow.
Gallant wrote on his Twitter account that his mother “passed away surrounded by her children and grandchildren. May her memory be a blessing.”
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Gallant’s dismissal as defense minister at the end of March - which he later backtracked – Gallant’s mother called him and assured him things will work out in the end.
In a speech he gave on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Gallant recounted that "like many in my generation, I too grew up on the stories and memories of World War II." He spoke about his mother, who "was a five-year-old girl when the Nazis attacked Poland and burned her hometown, Międzyrzec."
He added that "she escaped with her parents and sister, embarking on a difficult and harrowing journey. At the end of the war, she to Israel with her family on the Exodus immigration ship - and was then deported by the British back to Germany. She returned to the country immediately after Israel was established."
On Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2020, Glant wrote on his Facebook page that his mother's story "is the story of millions of Jews around the world, the story of the Holocaust generation and its revival. We’ll remember and never forget and will always be ready to defend ourselves when needed.”
In an interview with Calcalist in 2017, Gallant recounted that his mother was "a determined and cool-headed person. A woman who would never lose her composure even in the toughest situations. I remember one incident when I was a child, oil spilled from the oven onto the floor and caught fire. A neighbor started screaming but my mother simply brought a blanket and put it out. She feared nothing.”
Gallant also shared that his father was away most of the time, so his mother raised him mainly by herself.
“I was a well-behaved child, so other kids would bully me and I’d cry. My mother told me not to give up, and to hit back those who hit me first. After doing that they stopped bothering me.”
President Isaac Herzog also mourned Frouma and wrote on his Twitter account that he "shares the grief of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s family for the death of his mother. She was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Israel, had a family, and built a life here. I offer my condolences.”