Command Sgt. Maj. Roni Abuharon, 39: Always first into battle
Killed battling terrorists in Ofakim on October 7
Command Sgt. Maj. Roni Abuharon, 39, a detective in the Rahat police station, from Ofakim, was killed by Hamas terrorists in the city on October 7.
When Roni realized on Saturday morning that terrorists had invaded Ofakim, he took his weapon and went out to fight. After she didn’t hear from him, his wife, Shiran, asked Roni’s brother, Rafi to help. Rafi was the one who found Roni’s body.
Roni leaves behind, Shiran, his daughters, Lior (11) and Maya (9), his son Eliel (5), his mother Alice, and four siblings — Rafael (Rafi), Sonia, Anat and Kochava.
Roni reportedly saved many people on October 7 when he went out to fight the terrorists. Realizing that the terrorists had targeted an old neighborhood with no safe rooms in the buildings, he shouted at residents to get into their houses because the terrorists would be targeting anyone running outside to outdoor bomb shelters.
Roni’s fellow police officers told Maariv that this was characteristic of him.
“Roni was a very brave policeman who would run first into any incident,” they said.
Shiran told Maariv that Roni had “a heart of gold and would always help people even without them asking for it.”
She added that her kids were in a lot of pain over losing their father but that she tells them “how heroic” he was and that “a lot of people are alive because of what he did.”
Roni’s niece Noam wrote on Facebook that her uncle was a hero to her.
“Roni always told me to help others and he always said that if he was going to die, it would be for God and Israel,” she wrote.
“I have no doubt that your act of heroism saved hundreds of people, and we will all remember you as the first one on the frontlines and protecting everyone,” Roni’s cousin Yossi wrote on Facebook.
His other cousin Yakov wrote on Facebook on October 8 that Roni was a symbol of respect and love for everyone.
“You always respected my father like he was your own,” he wrote. “Only last Thursday we met and you gave my brother Yossi and me such a big hug and told us to look after my father.”
