Avraham 'Avi' Yaakov Book, was born on July 6, 1975 in Savion, to Rosalyn and Joseph, former Americans. He began his studies in in the Shiloh Religious Elementary School in Kiryat Ono and continued in the Herzog Middle School in Kfar Saba. He then attended the Noam High School in Pardes Chana and at the Yeshiva in Kibbutz Maaleh Gilboa. He was active in Bnei Akiva and loved to hike throughout Israel.
Avi was drafted into the IDF in 1994 and served in the Nachal Engineers Corps. His mother died of cancer the following year in 1995. Avi successfully completed the officers corps and served as Lieutenant in the Corps.
In the summer of 1997 Avi and his soldiers were sent to man an outpost in the security belt in South Lebanon. On September 7, 1997 he was killed by Hizbollah mortar fire on the outpost. He was buried in the military cemetery in Savion and left his father, five siblings and his fiance, Michal Heimowitz, who later established the 'Non-profit Organization for Emotional Support of Girlfriends of Fallen Soldiers of the IDF.'
