The Chief of Staff with the family of Colonel Lev z'l.

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Colonel Arlozor 'Zurik' Lev z'l was the commander of the Ramat David base when the Yom Kippur War broke out.  On the eve of the 8th of October 1973, the base was hit by Syrian surface-to-surface missiles. One of the houses in the area was hit, and an A-4 Skyhawk pilot was killed.

Showing leadership and a personal example Colonel Lev joined the Skyhawk formation which left on the 9th of October 1973 to attack the area of Port Said. The formation was lead by the deputy commander of the squadron, Avraham Vilan. Lev was number 2 and number 3 was Shlomo Liran (Zaltzman).

The formation executed an aerial strafing attack in which Zurik's aircraft crashed into the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Two aircraft formations were mobilized to the region, a pair of F-4 Phantoms and a pair of Super Mistaires. A Bell helicopter and a CH-53 Super Stallion were sent to the region for the rescue operation. During the search and rescue operations, a Phantom and a helicopter were hit by Syrian AA fire. The incident took place northwest of the Budapest outpost, while concurrently, a Paratrooper force was being lead by Ehud Yatom in the region.

On the day after the crash, IDF scouting efforts discovered a yellow life raft in the sea and a Super Stallion was sent to check out the vessel. In subsequent searches of the coastline, a single remnant verified as belonging to the remains of Lev's aircraft was found. After the peace agreement with Egypt, a number of searches were performed in an attempt to find the aircraft. However, the searches brought back nothing, and no further trace of the downed plane was found.

Colonel Zurik z'l will be receiving a new rank which his family will accept on his behalf. Colonel Lev z'l was appointed the head of the manpower group before the war, but was killed before getting a chance to serve in that position. On the 19th of July the Chief of Staff, with the approval of the Minister of Defense, decided to promote Colonel Zurik Lev z'l to the rank of Brigadier General, in accordance with the recommendation of the commander of the Air Force, Major General Eliezer Shkedi.

Colonel Zurik Lev z'l, left behind his parents, his brother, his wife, and six children.

The ceremony marking the promotion will be presided over by the Chief of General Staff, the commander of the Air Force, Major General Eliezer Shkedi, and the Chief of the Human Resources Branch, Major General Elazar Stern. Other participants in the ceremony include the chief of the manpower group- Brigadier General Rami Ben Efraim, the previous and current commanders of the Ramat David base, and friends.