Rabbi Yaron David, a rabbi for the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, eulogized first sergeant Yishai Rozales on Tuesday after he was killed in a training accident at the Tze’elim Base in the Negev.

“I and most of the rabbis in the battalion had the privilege of knowing Yishai well,” Rabbi David said of the 23-year-old soldier from Beit Meir.

He recounted how Rozales had first joined the Netzah Yehuda Battalion as part of the Masada regiment, before continuing his military service and taking the officer’s course.

“He was an excellent officer, pious, quiet, humble and very modest,” Rabbi David praised. “I never heard him slander anyone. He always looked on everyone favorably.”

“The last time I saw him was a few weeks ago,” Rabbi David added. “I and all the rabbis are still in shock from the bitter news. We can’t absorb that Yishai is no longer with us.”

Rozales was killed by a mortar round fired as part of a demonstration by the Netzah Yehuda Battalion in the training drill.