Cpl. Ilay Azar, 18: Budding musician who was ‘a star in the making’

Cpl. Ilay Azar, 18, a soldier in the Gaza Division, from Tel Aviv, was killed battling Hamas on October 7.

He was stationed that weekend at the Re’im military base, the headquarters of the IDF Gaza Division. At 7:20 that morning he told his father that there was gunfire and chaos and he would speak to him later. That was the last time he heard from him.

Staff Sgt. Ido Horovitz, who fought alongside Ilay that day, told Israel Hayom that despite being new on base, “He was focused. He didn’t think twice, didn’t worry what would happen to him or what the consequences would be, he was focused on fighting, to do as much as he could and to save as many people as he could.”

Amid the battle against Hamas gunmen who had invaded the base, Ilay was shot twice and killed. Among those also killed fighting on the base were Lt. Col. Sahar Machlof, Maj. Ido Yehoshua and Cpt. Rom Shlomi.

Ilay was buried in Tel Aviv on October 11. He is survived by his parents, Dave and Efrat, and his sister Amit, 16.

Ilay had only enlisted in the IDF in March 2023, around six months before he was killed, and had only finished his basic training a few weeks earlier. He was interviewed on Channel 12 news on the day of his enlistment, for a story about those joining combat units amid the backlash over the judicial overhaul. Ilay told the network that he felt “like there will be a war here soon. There is chaos and the people who are supposed to make less chaos are making more chaos.”

Ilay surrounded himself with music, his loved ones said, including writing songs and DJing — even bringing his turntable and a speaker to the IDF base. After his death, his family released a song he wrote and recorded with a friend, called “La’uf el Hashamayim” (Fly to the Heavens). He also loved surfing and hanging out at the beach with friends, as well as dancing and partying, his loved ones said.

Ido Suliman, who was Ilay’s guidance counselor in high school, told Israel Hayom that “fate made us realize that Ilay accomplished so much in his life, he must have realized that time was short. He had to do as much as possible, play as much music as possible and get to know as many musical styles as possible.”

Ido said their relationship was one of “love and education. We had a lot of conversations — Ilay was a very smart kid for his age, I told him that when he was alive as well… He was always many steps ahead, when something was explained to him he understood it already and he got bored easily. Music was the center of his life, not just playing it but also in his appearance, he would change looks and identities a lot, like dressing like a rapper. He was a star in the making.”

Ilay’s father, Dave, wrote on Facebook a month after he was killed that “I want to scream from the physical pain of a limb being cut off.”

“You were a mensch, a good and loving person, talented, the best version you could be, in life and in the way it ended,” he continued. “A musician, a surfer, a man of spirit and freedom, a man of parties and living at a rapid pace.”

Dave wrote, “You chose at the end to be the best man you could be, the most brave and calm. I’ll admire you forever. I’m sad over the things we didn’t get to do, I’m thankful for every day and every hour and every minute that you were with me, that you were with us.”

Instead of “buying a plane ticket to the Far East, instead of marrying you off, we meet at your grave… I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

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