Amitai Ben Zvi, 80: Retired driver ‘in every limb of his being’
Murdered by Hamas terrorists in his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7
Amitai Yaakov Ben Zvi, 80, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in his home on October 7.
With the start of the attack, Amitai and his Filipino caregiver, Jimmy Pacheco, entered the home’s reinforced room. Hamas terrorists stormed the room, murdering Amitai and taking Jimmy captive to Gaza.
Jimmy — who had been living with and caring for Amitai since 2019 — was freed from captivity on November 24, 2023, as part of a weeklong truce and hostage deal.
After he was released, Jimmy met with Amitai’s family and told them that in his final moments, “Dad told me to tell you that he loves you and shouted at me, ‘Go, run, save yourself.’ I’m so sorry I couldn’t save him.”
His funeral was held in Kibbutz Lahav on October 22. He is survived by his five children, Avishay, Hagar, Ido, Gilad and Orna, 10 grandchildren and his younger brother, Mati. His wife, Miri, died in 2016.
The oldest of his three siblings, Amitai was born in New York while his parents were living there as emissaries from the Hashomer Hatzair Zionist organization, according to a state eulogy. When he was 3, his family returned to Israel, settling in Kibbutz Ein Hashofet near Haifa, where Amitai grew up.
He did his mandatory army service in the Paratroopers Brigade, and afterward returned to Ein Hashofet where he met his wife, Miri, who arrived there with a youth pioneer group. The couple married in 1972 and moved to Nir Oz next to Gaza, where they remained for the rest of their lives.
Amitai served in reserve duty in the Sinai during the Yom Kippur War, rushing home in the middle after his firstborn son was born — an act the family attributed to saving his life, as many of his comrades were killed in the ensuing battles. He worked as a professional truck driver for many years on a number of different routes and transports around the country.
Shortly before his 60th birthday, Amitai was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which greatly affected his mobility, and ultimately led the family to employ Jimmy. Amitai loved classical music and had a large record collection, and after he could no longer drive trucks his family bought him a model train set, which he greatly expanded and attended to over the years.
A eulogy from Kibbutz Nir Oz said the name Amitai immediately brought to mind “your wide-brimmed had, your measured and slow walk, you building an electric train for a long time, and mostly — driving,” noting his years of working as a truck driver. “You were addicted to the steering wheel, the vehicle, the truck accessories and the rides themselves. A driver in every limb of your being.”
Amitai’s son, Avishay, wrote on Facebook that his father “was always very reserved and didn’t express much emotion,” attributing it to growing up in the time of communal sleeping wards for kibbutz children. “Even when his mother died in 1982, I don’t remember that I saw him crying or expressing emotions, except sometimes anger or frustration. Later, when my mother died of cancer in 2016, he softened a lot. And still, I always imagine him looking at things in a practical way — practical, not emotional.”
“I’m sad,” he added. “His life shouldn’t have ended this way. After he survived wars and a difficult disease. If he had died in his sleep, we would have been sad but come to terms more easily with death. But he had a full life, he raised a family, children, grandchildren, and he was able to live his life in his chosen way.”
