Amiram Cooper, 85: Farmer, economist and prolific poet

Amiram Cooper, 85, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was kidnapped from his home on October 7 and slain in captivity. His body was ultimately returned to Israel in October 2025.

He and his wife, Nurit, were brutally taken from their home after terrorists shot through their front door. They were held together underground along with other kibbutz members, until Nurit was freed on October 23, 2023.

On December 18, 2023, Hamas released a propaganda clip showing Amiram alongside his friends Chaim Peri and Yoram Metzger. In March 2024, Hamas claimed that all three had been killed in Israeli airstrikes.

In June 2024, Israel confirmed that Amiram, Chaim, Yoram and Nadav Popplewell had been killed in captivity. After Chaim and Yoram’s bodies were recovered from the Strip by IDF troops, Israel said it believes they were shot dead by their captors in mid-February 2024.

The kibbutz held a farewell ceremony at the time, and his family sat shiva, the weeklong mourning period.

On October 30, 2025, Hamas returned Amiram’s remains to Israel. He was laid to rest in Kibbutz Nir Oz on November 2, 2025.

He is survived by his wife, Nurit, their four children, Rotem, Srulik, Ravit and Lotan, 11 grandchildren, and his sister, Ora. He was predeceased by his brother, Gershon.

Amiram was born in Haifa in 1938, before the founding of the state, to parents who had fled from Poland. His daughter recalled that he would speak of his memories at age 10, hearing David Ben-Gurion declare the State of Israel over the radio.

He attended the Kadoorie Agricultural High School in the Lower Galilee, hoping to one day become a farmer. When he graduated in 1957, he joined a group of Nahal pioneers at Kibbutz Nir Oz, and remained a member for more than 65 years, until he was killed.

Amiram was one of four young men from Haifa who helped found the kibbutz – alongside Arie Zalmanowicz and Oded Lifshitz, who were both also kidnapped and slain in captivity, and Shlomo Margalit, who survived the attack.

The second wave of pioneers settling in Nir Oz included Nurit, and the couple wed and raised their children in the kibbutz. Over the years, Amiram worked in many roles in the kibbutz, in agriculture, at the Nirlat paint factory and for the last 24 years of his working life as the chief economist of the Ma’on region settlements, until his retirement.

He had a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in agricultural economics from the Hebrew University, and after his retirement, he completed a doctorate at Ben-Gurion University.

Amiram was also a poet and composer, with several published books of poetry, plays and children’s books as well as articles dealing with politics and economics.

On the 5th anniversary of Nir Oz, Amiram wrote the song “Shibolei Paz” (Golden Stalks), which was recorded by the famed Gevatron kibbutz band and became a part of the kibbutz’s celebrations for decades to come.

He was “a romantic, a man of ideas,” said his son, Rotem, noting that his father always wrote rhymes and verses for his loved ones’ birthdays and special moments. He said his father saw the settlement of the Western Negev as his life’s mission: “My father is Nir Oz and Nir Oz is my father.”

His daughter, Ravit, said at his memorial service that her father had “left us so much” and made an indelible mark on the world.

”You left Kibbutz Nir Oz, which you built with your friends. You left your creations – countless poems and melodies, each so unique. You left the family you built – Mom, us, your children, and your grandchildren,” she wrote. “You left your values imprinted on us, and on so many people – friends, colleagues, fellow artists – who knew and loved you.”

“You were an idealist who believed in the kibbutz values of equality, sharing, and hard work,” Ravit said, calling him “the best father in the world. A father full of gentleness and warmth. You never got angry, criticized or judged. You always saw the person first.”

Read more Those We Have Lost stories here.