"In death there is no left or right": The fallen identifier who served 900 reserve days in his first interview

Capt. (res.) Dr. Alon Barash, who served 900 reserve days in identifying and locating missing persons, was interviewed on the program "Bahatzi Hayom" on Kan News. Barash, head of the anatomy department at Bar-Ilan University, spoke about his role in identifying fallen soldiers, the first case of the war—locating the observation soldiers at Nahal Oz—and his connection with the families. He described the difficulty of knowing about hard events before the families, and the change he underwent since October 7.

Capt. (res.) Dr. Alon Barash, who served 900 reserve days in identifying and locating missing persons, was interviewed today (Tuesday) by Esti Perez and Carmela Menashe on the program "Bahatzi Hayom" on Kan News. Barash, head of the anatomy department at the Faculty of Medicine at Bar-Ilan University, spoke about his role in the IDF's identification and burial unit. He described the first case he handled in the war—locating and identifying the observation soldiers killed at the Nahal Oz outpost. "The hardest thing was hearing the families, not knowing what happened to their loved ones," he said. Barash spoke about his connection with Eyal Eshel, father of observation soldier Roni Eshel, who expressed gratitude live on air. He described the difficulty of knowing about hard events before the families, such as after the fall of 21 soldiers in building collapses in Gaza, calling that time "a moment of grace." One of the toughest challenges was handling the case of Yehuda Katz, a missing soldier from the First Lebanon War (1982) who was returned on August 18, 2026. Barash said the war changed him: "I am not the same person I was on October 6." He emphasized the importance of bringing comfort to families and resolving doubts, concluding: "In death there is no left or right, religious or secular, Jews, Muslims, or Druze."