Roi Klein (Hebrew: רועי קליין; July 10 1975–July 26 2006 was a Major in the Golani Brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces. Klein was killed in the Battle of Bint Jbeil during the 2006 Lebanon War after jumping on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers.
Klein was born in Raanana, Israel. He began his IDF service in the Paratroopers Brigade but later transferred to the Golani Brigade's Egoz Reconnaissance Unit.
In 2002, Klein received a Chief of Staff Citation for his conduct during an ambush near Nablus in which 5 Palestinian terrorists were killed.
During the Battle of Bint Jbeil, a hand grenade was thrown into the house where Klein and his unit were present. Klein told his men "Report that I've been killed" and subsequently jumped on the live grenade and stopped the explosion with his body. Klein was killed on the spot but his soldiers were saved by his act of self-sacrifice. The soldiers reported that Klein recited the Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael, as he jumped on the grenade.
Roi Klein became a symbol for heroism in Israel. New schools in Netanya and Raanana have been named after him. [1]
For his actions during the war Klein received the Medal of Courage posthumously. [2]
At the request of "Peace Now's" never ending war on Jewish housing in Israel, Israel's Supreme Court announced that the home of the widow and orphans of Major Roi Klein is to be destroyed. The home, along with 11 others slated for destruction are built in "Givat HaYovel" neighborhood of the Eli community in the Shomron/West Bank.The family will commemorate Klein's death is in 2 weeks -- it will be 3 years since he died defending Israel in the Second Lebanon War.
The Supreme Court ruled that these 11 homes were built illegally, on private land, and are to be destroyed.
The Yovel neighborhood is built on a South East hilltop in Eli. According to Eli residents, the neighborhood appears on the official and approved building plan of the community. The first homes were built in 1998 during Israel's 50th anniversary -- HaYovel is a translation for 50th anniversary. Israel's ministry of housing prepared the neighborhood's infrastructure, and the Jewish Agency built some of the 11 homes, now scheduled for destruction by the High Court's decsion.
"We are not an outpost, we are a neighborhood of Eli," said Tamar Asraf, whose home is also scheduled for destruction. The homes are legal, built on State lands and not built on lands taken from private people. We have all the legal building permits and we pay taxes to Israel. All the residents here are law abiding citizens. The time has come for the State to embrace us instead of treating us with revulsion."
Israel's Supreme Court won't let Israel destory the home of a terrorist, yet destroying the homes of widows and orphans of Israel's fallen soldiers is not a problem.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
