Amir Naim, 27: Engineering student was eagerly awaiting son’s birth
Killed battling the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Erez on October 7
Amir Manzhor Naim, 27, from Kibbutz Erez, was killed battling the Hamas attack on the kibbutz on October 7.
A member of the kibbutz’s local security team, Amir set out early that morning to join the rest of the team and repel the dozens of terrorists who were heading their way.
“We were hiding in our safe room and as soon as Amir understood that something unusual was happening, he jumped up, got ready in two minutes, and went out to handle things. We didn’t even have a chance to say a proper goodbye,” his wife, Shahar, told The Times of Israel in February.
The team gathered at the highest point in the kibbutz, from which they could see two pickup trucks full of terrorists heading their way, another member of the squad, Ben Sadan, told Ynet. They opened fire on them and a ferocious gunfight ensued, with “grenades, RPGs, insane gunfire,” he said. In the battle, Amir was wounded and died “in my arms.”
Nobody else in the kibbutz was killed, and the security team successfully repelled the Hamas invasion.
Amir was buried on October 18, 2023, in Rishon Lezion, and is slated to be reburied on October 8, 2024, in Kibbutz Erez. He was retroactively recognized as a fallen soldier with the rank of major in the reserves.
He is survived by his wife, Shahar, his parents, Orna and Asher and his older siblings, Moran and Dekel. His firstborn son, Refael, was born in April 2024, six months after he was killed.
Shahar’s cousin, Tal Keren, was murdered the same day while fishing at Zikim Beach.
Born and raised in Kibbutz Erez, Amir stood out for being tall and broad, and played basketball for many years as a kid, often referred to by his nickname of “rhino.” During his mandatory army service, he served in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps, working in its bomb disposal unit. He later became an officer, and after his release was an active reservist in the Golani Brigade.
Amir was in his final year of studying chemical engineering at the Shamoon College of Engineering in Beersheba and was also working a student job at Intel.
His family chose to memorialize him in a number of ways connected to his interests, including a local basketball tournament, a hackathon aimed at finding usage for salt created as a byproduct from water desalination, and a line of beers with a rhinoceros logo. He also loved smoking meat in his backyard, hosting friends for large barbecues and taking jeep trips in the desert, his loved ones said.
Amir’s cousin, Gal Naim, told People magazine, “He was just a very kind person that you could always count on. He always had your back. He reminded me why we came to this country because you’re always with your family…. we remember him for all the happy moments and all the family pictures.”
His sister, Moran, wrote on Facebook that her brother “always understood me, always made me laugh no matter what — even when we were in the middle of a stormy fight, in which you were of course always right.”
“My brother, with the huge smile, the rolling laughter and the kind eyes,” she continued. “The most determined — always first! I’m so proud of you. You are my hero, you are a hero to all of us… There are no words to describe how much I love you. Forever.”
Amir and Shahar were together for a decade, ever since high school when they met on a school heritage trip to Poland. They settled in Erez, Amir’s hometown, and were excited to start building their family together.
Shahar said she felt her husband’s absence at every doctor’s appointment, test, and scan on the journey toward their son’s birth.
“Amir left me and the whole family a huge gift and that makes me take good care of myself and the baby, who is a pinpoint of light I am waiting to meet,” she said in February, a few months before he was born.
Shahar told Channel 12 news that “it pains me that [Rafael] won’t experience having a father. He will experience a father — just one who isn’t physically here.”
