Cpl. Lidor Mekayes, 19: COGAT soldier dreamed of living in America

Cpl. Lidor Mekayes, 19, a COGAT logistics soldier, from Ofakim, was killed on October 7 when Hamas terrorists stormed across the border.

Mekayes, who was serving on a base near the Erez Crossing with Gaza, sent a message in the family WhatsApp group early that morning that terrorists had infiltrated the base and that he was afraid and hiding in the bomb shelter as he was ordered. All connection with him was cut off around 8 a.m.

He had only enlisted in the IDF less than six months earlier and had been serving on the base for just a few months before he was killed.

He is survived by his parents, Batel Tivka and Moshe, and his siblings Inbar, Oren and Lian. He was buried in Ofakim on October 11.

A eulogy posted by the city of Ofakim said that Lidor loved to play basketball and also study English, and was hoping to master the language and move to the US. “He was an incredible boy — smart, funny, perfect and rare, who never did bad to anyone and loved to help everyone.”

His aunt, Smadar Mekayes, wrote on Facebook: “Lidori, my dear nephew, why were you murdered so cruelly in cold blood — my heart refuses to believe such a fate, you have left us shocked and in pain. A boy like you, gentle, modest, a wonderful son, rest in peace my dear.”

Less than a week after he was killed, his mother, Batel, wrote on Facebook: “Lidori, oh how much I miss you, it’s Friday and you should be here with us at home, I would make you your schnitzels the way you love, we’d sit all of us around the table — what will we do without you?”

Marking a month since his death, Batel wrote to “my beautiful angel.”

“How can life go on without you? Nobody knows. My heart refuses to believe and continues to bleed. My prince, I miss you so much,” she wrote. “My love, I miss our laughs together, our talking, touch, hugs, kisses — my heart, the moment that they took you they took my heart.”

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