Command Sgt. Maj. Yehuda Kadar, 50: Police officer with ‘warmest eyes’
Killed battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7
Command Sgt. Maj. Yehuda Kadar, 50, a non-commissioned Border Police officer at the Eshkol Ein Habesor station, from Ofakim, was killed on October 7 battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel.
Yehuda was at home with his family with the start of the attack, but soon received many messages and updates about the Hamas onslaught. He quickly put on his uniform and headed for the front lines, collecting another police officer along the way. Their goal was to get to the Ein Habesor station and get suited up with better equipment for combat.
Along the way, they encountered a cell of Hamas terrorists and exchanged gunfire, with an RPG just missing them in the battle. At Ein Habesor, Yehuda unlocked the weapons locker and armed the town’s local security team with rifles, helping them hold off an attack on the town.
Yehuda then decided to continue onward toward Kibbutz Re’im to come to the assistance of a wounded officer who had called for help. Along the way they encountered another group of Hamas gunmen and Yehuda was killed in the gun battle.
He was buried on October 9 in Ofakim. He is survived by his wife, Iris, their two children, Eliya and Aviad, his mother, Malka, and six siblings: Esther, Benny, Moshe, Avi, Yaakov and Ruth. He was predeceased by his father, Yehoshua, and his brother, Eli.
Born and raised in a large family in Ofakim, Yehuda attended local schools, according to a municipal eulogy. In 1991 he enlisted in the IDF, serving in the Border Police, and after completing his mandatory service, he signed on in 1994 to remain in the police force.
Yehuda was deeply family oriented, his loved ones said, and loved to regularly gather together his extended family, including for a big 50th birthday bash just months before he was killed. He also volunteered in an old age home as well as with kids with special needs, his family said.
His daughter, Eliya, wrote on an Instagram memorial page that “when the battle started, my dad was exactly where he always was, on the front line, defending home, defending us.”
Her father, she wrote, “wasn’t just a Border Police fighter. He was a dad, he was a husband, he was a friend. The man with the warmest eyes, always asking if we were OK, always there when we needed, he would talk to us about everything, advise us on everything, and always knew what to say.”
“He instilled in us the values he believed in,” she added. “He was the man in whom you could see light, the man who you are sure will find a solution to everything… He fought because there was no choice, he fought to defend our home, the country, our family.”
His wife, Iris, told a local news outlet, “Yehuda taught us that it’s important to be an important person, but it’s more important to be a decent person.” His son, Aviad, told the news site, “Dad was always my role model. Now, I want to continue his path in the Border Police, so that he’ll be proud of me.”
