Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser (Ehud Ben Malka Goldwasser) (Hebrew: אהוד גולדווסר; 18 July 1975 - July 12, 2006) was an Israeli soldier who was abducted in Israel by Hezbollah along with Eldad Regev on 12 July 2006, sparking the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. His rank was First Sergeant.[1]
On July 16, 2008, the bodies of Goldwasser and Regev were returned to Israel in an Israeli-Hezbollah prisoner swap. An examination of the bodies determined that the two reservists were killed during the ambush.[2]
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Prior to his capture at Israel's border with Lebanon, Ehud "Udi" Goldwasser lived in Nahariya. He was a graduate student at the Technion,[3] the Israeli Institute of Technology, from which he had earlier earned an undergraduate degree in environmental engineering.[4] As a teenager, he lived in South Africa with his parents, Shlomo and Mickey, and two younger brothers. In 2005, he married Karnit, who would later campaign globally for his release.[5][6] He was interested in environmental conservation, motorcycles, sailing and photography.[7]
According to the United Nations, the fighting began at around 9 AM when Hezbollah launched rockets on Israeli military positions along the Lebanese border, apparently as a diversion.[8] A force then attacked two armored IDF Humvees patrolling the border near the Israeli village of Zar'it with anti-tank rockets, and captured the two soldiers.
An Israeli Merkava Mk. II tank was damaged by a 200 kg improvised explosive device, while attempting to give pursuit, killing all four crewmembers.[9]
On July 16, 2008, Hezbollah transferred the coffins of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev,[10] in exchange for Lebanese militant Samir Kuntar and four other Hezbollah fighters captured by Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War, as well as the remains of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian militants.[11][12]
The exchange took place on the Lebanese side of the border at Rosh Hanikra. Their bodies were returned as part of a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in which the latter would receive the bodies of 199 Hezbollah members as well as 5 prisoners including Samir Kuntar. Their Hezbollah captors had withheld any information about the condition of the two soldiers since they were captured on July 12, 2006.
On September 19, 2006, rock band Aerosmith dedicated their hit song "Dream On" to Goldwasser at the request of Goldwasser's wife.[13]