Netanel, commander of the 630th Reserve Battalion, renowned for his work as a chef, was a recipient of the Chief of Staff’s Outstanding Service Award.
On the morning of October 7, while he was planning to celebrate the Simhat Torah holiday, he was informed about the Hamas attack on towns and cities in the south near the Gaza border. He quickly recruited and mobilized his troops to fight Hamas.
While fighting Hamas in Khan Yunis, he led his unit into a building where the entrance to a terror tunnel was hidden under a staircase. The building was rigged with explosives, and Netanel, along with two of his soldiers, stood at the entrance and took the brunt of the blast. Netanel was killed on the day he was scheduled to be released from reserve duty.