Family of Fallen Golani Soldier Receives Long-Awaited IDF Investigation

Nearly 20 months after the death of Sgt. Gur Kehati, z"l, a Golani Brigade soldier who was killed at a fortress in southern Lebanon, his family has received the IDF's operational investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. The findings were presented after the family warned that it would petition Israel's High Court of Justice if the report was not provided by July 10.

Kehati was killed on November 20, 2024, in an incident in which civilian Ze'ev Erlich was also killed. Erlich had entered the combat zone accompanied by the Golani Brigade's former chief of staff, Col. (res.) Yoav Yarum. Following the incident, Yarum resigned from his position. Earlier this year, the IDF decided to close the case against him without pursuing criminal proceedings.

Before receiving the report, Kehati's parents had appealed to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, requesting that the investigation be released. In a letter sent about three months ago, they wrote that, despite the passage of many months, they had received no meaningful professional, moral, or human response regarding the circumstances of their son's death.

According to the family, the investigation places primary responsibility for the incident on the former brigade chief of staff. They say the report concludes there was no operational need for Erlich to participate in the mission and that Col. Yarum acted without authorization or official approval.

Gur's grandfather, Assaf Agmon, said the family's "darkest nightmares" had been confirmed after reviewing the report. According to Agmon, most of the investigation focused on the broader military campaign and the Golani Brigade's operations, while only a small portion addressed the events that led directly to his grandson's death.

Agmon also criticized the investigation's conclusions and the conduct of the military leadership.

"When you read the investigation, you understand the scale of the failure and the disgrace," he said. Although the family was told that Yarum had acted without authorization, Agmon said they "did not hear a single word about responsibility."

He added that the family had hoped to see clear acknowledgment of the failures and acceptance of command responsibility but felt deeply disappointed by the report's conclusions.

"To say, 'I'm sorry' and 'Gur was a hero,' is simply not enough," Agmon said. "We hoped someone would take responsibility and recognize the severity of this moral failure, but that simply did not happen."