JERUSALEM, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The son of David Grossman, one of Israel's most popular novelists, was killed in action during fighting in Lebanon.
Grossman told the Sunday Times of London he received the knock at the door last week that no parent with a son in the military wants to receive.
"They said on the intercom that they were from the army," Grossman told the newspaper. "I went downstairs to open the door and thought, 'That's it. Life is over.'"
The soldiers at the door confirmed that Grossman's son, Uri -- a 20-year-old tank commander who was fighting in Lebanon -- had been killed.
Grossman, the Times said, is well known in Israel as a peace activist, and had initially supported the government's goal of an all-out strike against Hezbollah. But recent events have fueled his family's anger over the fighting.
Only two days before the death of his son, Grossman and two other well-known novelists had publicly urged the government to end the war.
"The killing must stop," he had told a left-wing rally in Tel Aviv.
David Grossman has written such books as "The Zig-Zag Kid," "You Shall Be My Knife" and "Smile of the Lamb."
