Command Sgt. Maj. Meir Abergel, 54: Veteran cop loved to tell stories

Command Sgt. Maj. Meir Abergel, 54, the Sderot police station investigation coordinator, was killed on October 7 battling the Hamas attack on the city.

When the attack began, Meir decided immediately that he had to head toward the station, even though he was on leave for medical treatment.

Just outside the police station, Meir was shot dead in his car by Hamas gunmen who had invaded the city and stormed the station. Meir was among eight Sderot police officers killed in battle for the station, alongside Command Sgt. Maj. Shmuel Golima, Command Sgt. Maj. David Ben Dayan, Command Sgt. Maj. Adir Shlomo, Command Sgt. Maj. Denis Belenky, Command Sgt. Maj. Yaron Dayan, Master Sgt. Eliyahu Michael Harush and First Sgt. Mor Shakuri.

Meir was buried in Sderot on October 10. He is survived by his daughter, Idan, his mother, Tzivya, brother Yaniv and girlfriend Ayelet.

Born and raised in Sderot, Meir attended local schools and excelled in history and geography, according to a local eulogy.

After high school he enlisted in the IDF and served in the Combat Engineering Corp, staying on for five years, beyond the mandatory period.

Right after his release, Meir joined the Israel Police, beginning his service in October 1991 and remaining with the police force for more than 30 years, working his way up the ranks to become coordinator of investigations at the Sderot police station.

He was a huge fan of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team, attending as many games as he could. His loved ones said he loved to travel in Israel and abroad, planning trips for family and friends, and also loved photography and cooking and hosting meals.

In recent years, Meir was diagnosed with leukemia and was undergoing treatment, but he refused to let that stop him from setting out to defend his fellow officers on October 7.

His daughter, Idan, wrote in a social media post that her father “accepted me as I am.”

Idan said that despite the loss of her father, she is comforted that he always supported her, including when she came out as transgender four years earlier: “My father loved me and accepted me as I am. That’s what gives me strength to keep going in life,” she added, noting that her father would accompany her to doctor’s appointments and “supported the transition I’m going through without criticism and without thinking about how others would look at us in [Sderot].”

Idan said she last saw her father at holiday dinner the night before, “and when the sirens sounded, Dad headed for the station — he didn’t need to, because he was on sick leave, but he insisted on joining his comrades and helping them.”

His girlfriend Ayelet, who he met in 2007, wrote online that Meir “was funny, had a great sense of humor, was smart. He had life wisdom, mostly.”

“He loved to tell stories, mostly about the police and the army,” she said. “Everyone was captivated when he spoke. He loved to cook and to host people, everyone loved coming over to his house. He loved traveling in the country and abroad, he got to know the country through many trips and treks. He always saw the needs of others before his own needs… With Meir, the sky was the limit. Everything he wanted to achieve, he set a goal and made it happen.”

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