Cpl. Neria Aharon Nagari, 18: Rookie soldier who went above and beyond
Killed battling the Hamas invasion of the IDF Zikim base on October 7
Cpl. Neria Aharon Nagari, 18, a Home Front Command soldier, from the West Bank settlement of Talmon, was killed on October 7 at the Zikim IDF base.
Neria had only enlisted in the IDF in mid-August, less than two months before he was killed. On the morning of the attack, he was stationed at the Zikim training base next to the Gaza border, along with around 90 other rookie trainees and a small number of commanders.
When the Hamas onslaught began, the commanders immediately replaced the trainees at the guard posts, and ordered all the new enlistees to seek shelter. Neria was one of a small number of the trainees who decided instead to take part in the battle to prevent the base from being captured, and volunteered to help assist some of those who had already been wounded.
While trying to help treat the injured, Neria was shot dead by a Hamas terrorist. Ultimately, six commanders on the base that day were slain — Maj. Adir Abudi, Cpt. Or Moses, Lt. Adar Ben Simon, 2nd Lt. Yannai Kaminka, Staff Sgt. Eden Alon Levy and Staff Sgt. Omri Niv Firshtein — but the base was not conquered.
Neria was the only trainee to be killed during the attack, and the other 90 were saved by the quick thinking of the commanders.
He was buried on October 9 in Dolev. He is survived by his parents, Sharon and Refael, and his six siblings, Rivka, Reishit, Hadar, Yehuda, Michal and Eliya.
At his funeral, his father Rafael called him a “valuable diamond that we received as a gift from the heavens.”
“You were born on the eve of Hanukkah, and you always added light,” he added. “Everywhere you went you made sure things were good. You took control whenever it was needed and demanded, and also there — at the IDF outpost where you were stationed — you made sure to protect them.”
Rafael said Neria “went through many journeys in your short but full life. All we have left is to take your light and spread it.”
His father said he last spoke to his son before Shabbat started, hours before the attack, “and you said that you felt good, that you had found the right place for you. I blessed you and told you that we love you. We were privileged to raise you, it seems that God wanted you with him.”
Neria’s mother, Sharon, told a local radio station that her son, “throughout his life, what was important to him was to bring a good atmosphere everywhere he went. He would always note if a friend was having a hard time and take him to the side and calm him down.”
Sharon said Neria “was a very happy kid, but he was very deep. He wasn’t just happy and lighthearted, he was deep and smart and aware of his difficulties, of what was lacking… but you can’t think of Neria and be sad for too long, at some point you’ll definitely smile and probably even laugh when you think about one of his jokes. He would make us happy and make us laugh, he would want most for us to try and be happy. We have no doubt.”
