Legendary Israel Defense Forces fighter Meir Har-Zion, who died Friday at the age of 80, was laid to rest on Sunday afternoon in his family's plot at the Ramot Issachar Cemetery in the Lower Galilee. Har-Zion was one of the founders of the IDF's elite special forces Unit 101 and later became the first commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. He was awarded the IDF's medal of courage -- the military's second-highest citation -- for an operation he led in 1955 behind enemy lines. Some 1,500 people attended the funeral service, which saw Har-Zion's coffin, shrouded in the Israeli flag, led to the gravesite to the sound of one of his favorite Mozart symphonies. President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and former Defense Ministers Ehud Barak, Shaul Mofaz and Yitzhak Mordechai attended the service; as did former GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen (ret.) Tal Russo, Northern Corps commander Maj. Gen Noam Tibon, Housing Minister Uri Ariel and dozens of military and municipal officials. "Meir, you are returning to the earth you loved more than anything, the very earth you fought for," Peres said over the grave. "Meir was cut from a different cloth, a cloth of courage. He was fearless." "Meir understood that the regeneration of the Jewish people depended on the training of generations of fighters who would protect the Jewish state. He saw it as his personal mission," Netanyahu said. "Meir Har-Zion was a hero of Israel. His selfless actions, the bravery in which he was willing to throw himself into battle and the extraordinary courage he demonstrated in the moment of truth will continue to serve as an example for the IDF and the people of Israel as a whole. Meir was a legend in life, but he was never one to search for glory," the prime minister said. "He lived on this mountain and worked this land, for which his love knew no bounds. He was a rare individual." Ya'alon, who also spoke at the service, said, "Few are the men who become legends in their lifetime, who become a household name and are known to all, from high-school students to statesmen. Few are the men who shape generations of fighters, who laid the foundations to the military as we know it, and whose heroism and selflessness make them into a role model in such a way, that they are awarded an officer's rank without ever graduating from officers' training." Former Paratroopers Brigade commander Col. (ret.) Avner Talmon said, "Meir Har-Zion was everything each of us had dreamed of becoming." Har-Zion is survived by his sister, his wife and his four children.
