Ofer Moskovitz lent his larger-than-life personality to his beloved north |
Eleven days ago, I texted and spoke with Ofer Moskovitz, an avocado farmer and spokesperson for Kibbutz Misgav Am, where had made his home for the last 43 years.
Moskovitz, 60, was killed early Sunday morning when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit the car he was riding in, setting it on fire. Hezbollah claimed the attack, claiming it was targeting soldiers.
According to the Ynet news outlet, he told a Haifa radio station on Friday that “I could be hit by a rocket or drone at any moment. It’s Russian roulette.”
Moskovitz told me that he had returned to the avocado groves where new trees were growing, but found it unsettling to know that Hezbollah terrorists were still out there, watching him from across the border.
Moskovitz spoke about going to the lookout near the kibbutz where there was a view of nearby Lebanon, and taking pictures of the Hezbollah flag hanging in homes across the border.
“They see me, and I see them,” he said.
Moskovitz was a larger-than-life person, a fact immediately apparent in our series of WhatsApp texts and phone conversations over 24 hours.
“Call me Poshko,” he said, “that’s what everyone calls me. It’s one name, like Madonna or Rihanna.”
His Instagram profile describes him as “father, grandfather, farmer, photographer, radio announcer for the Upper Galilee radio station and Misgav’s spokesperson.”
We first spoke when I texted to ask if a missile had fallen in one of the avocado groves he managed, about 100 meters from the UN-designated Blue Line marking the border with Lebanon.
No, he answered, “Thank goodness.”
Moskovitz told me he has always believed in the strength and will of the Israel Defense Forces, and he trusted the army when it told........