Native dies as Israeli soldier

David Solomonov, a Pittsburgh native who moved with his family to Israel and became a soldier in the Israeli army, was set to finish his three-year stint in the military Sunday.

Less than a week before he would have the opportunity to pursue plans to enroll at a university, Solomonov, 21, was killed in an exchange of gunfire near the Lebanese border.

The shooting began when a sniper with the anti-Israeli militia Hezbollah fired toward Israeli solders on a routine patrol Monday near the Israeli town of Metulla, the Israeli Army said.

A close friend of the Solomonov family said the former Squirrel Hill resident wasn't even scheduled for the maneuver that turned deadly. He had taken the place of a fellow soldier who wanted to attend a Yom Kippur service at a synagogue.

"That was David. He would do anything for somebody," said Carolyn Kamens, a teacher at Community Day School in Squirrel Hill, where Solomonov attended as a child and where his mother, Evelyn Solomonov, taught English until the family moved to Israel 10 years ago. His father, Mordechai "Solo" Solomonov, owned a restaurant in nearby Greenfield.

Kamens said she spoke by telephone Tuesday with Evelyn Solomonov, who told her that David had volunteered for the patrol.

"She said it was fate," Kamens said. "He was not even supposed to be on that maneuver. It was not his watch, but he did this other person a favor."

Solomonov's funeral and burial is scheduled today at a military cemetery in Kfar Sava, the Israeli city where he graduated from high school, Kamens said. His parents, who are divorced, both live in Israel.

Kamens said the family ended up in Israel after Evelyn Solomonov escorted a school trip to Israel about 10 years ago.

"She fell in love with it all over again," Kamens said.

Solomonov had been in Israel when her first son, Michael, was born. Mordechai Solomonov, then her husband, also is a native of Israel. Soon after she returned from the school trip, the family decided to move to Israel, said Kamens.

David Solomonov, who also held U.S. citizenship, was with a patrol Monday afternoon when the Hezbollah forces fired on them from the Lebanese side of the border, according to Haaretz, a daily newspaper in Israel. Solomonov was hit by several snipers simultaneously, the paper reported. Medical teams went to the site, but Solomonov died shortly after he was hit.

In a fax to The Associated Press in Lebanon's capital of Beirut, Hezbollah denied involvement .

"It's just a devastating blow," said Adam Tobias, 25, of Squirrel Hill, who had known Solomonov much of his life.

Tobias also is a close friend of Solomonov's only sibling -- his older brother, Michael, a chef who lives in Philadelphia.

The brother departed for Israel last night, accompanied by two of his mother's sisters from Florida, said Tobias.

"He was still in shock," Tobias said of Michael Solomonov. "He had just been in Israel a couple of weeks ago and spent a lot of time with David. They had a really good time seeing each other."

Tobias said he saw David Solomonov two years ago during a trip to Israel.

"He seemed really grown up. He was really excited that he got into an elite unit in the army. I think he was proud to be defending something that he loved and thought was a worthwhile cause," Tobias said.

Marsha Zuckerman, 55, Tobias' mother, also of Squirrel Hill, has kept in touch with the Solomonov family. She and Evelyn Solomonov became friends when their children were in middle school together. She last saw David about 10 years ago.

"He was a cute little boy," she said. "He was sweet and friendly, and everybody liked him. That's how I remember him."

Zuckerman said Evelyn Solomonov also is in her thoughts.

"It's the worst thing that can happen to a mother," she said, breaking into sobs.

David Solomonov was single. During a visit to Pittsburgh last year, he told Carolyn Kamens, his fifth-grade teacher, that he was making plans for his life after the military.

"He wasn't definitely sure what he wanted to do yet, but he definitely wanted to go to college somewhere," Kamens said.

Kamens, of Stanton Heights, also said David spoke to her class about being a soldier in the Israeli army.

"He grew up a great deal there. It really made him into a man. He was anxious to get out, but he didn't mind the military," she said. "He was a good person. It's not just because he died. He really was a good person."