Those we have lost

Cpl. Nik Beizer, 19: COGAT soldier loved karaoke, cooking with mom

Kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 and killed after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Nov. 10, his body retrieved on Dec. 14

Cpl. Nik Beizer (IDF)
Cpl. Nik Beizer (IDF)

Cpl. Nik Beizer, 19, a driver in COGAT’s Gaza District Coordination and Liaison office, from Beersheba, was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 from his army base next to the Erez Crossing.

At 7:10 a.m., he told his mom, “Don’t worry, everything’s fine, everything will be OK,” before the phone was cut off. It was the last she heard from him.

Hamas bodycam video from shortly after the phone call showed Nik and two other soldiers being walked by the terrorists, in their shorts and t-shirts, to the gate of the base. A later video showed them being dragged through a gap in the concrete wall into Gaza.

On December 14, 2023, IDF troops recovered Nik’s body from a tunnel in northern Gaza along with those of Elia Toledano and Sgt. Ron Sherman.

Tamir Nimrodi, a soldier who was taken captive with Nik and Ron, is believed to still be held hostage in Gaza.

An IDF investigation published in September 2024 revealed that Nik, Elia and Ron were killed on November 10, 2023, as a result of a “byproduct” of an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, likely indicating that they suffocated or were killed by carbon dioxide poisoning inside a tunnel.

Nik was buried on December 17, 2023, in Beersheba. He is survived by his parents, Katya and Sergey, his younger sister Nikol and his girlfriend, Marta.

Born and raised in Beersheba, Nik loved animals from a young age, trained in martial arts as a child and was an active gym-goer as a teenager. He loved to sing, especially karaoke, to cook for his friends, and was especially handy around the house, his family said. He also loved cars, and would sometimes go out drifting with friends in the desert.

Nik had only enlisted in the IDF in late April 2023, less than six months before he was kidnapped. On July 1, after finishing basic training, he was stationed at the base next to Erez.

At his funeral, his father, Sergey, said that he “was raised and lived in love. No matter what, you will stay alive to us, and stay loved. I know that everything we felt toward you was only joy and love. You somehow succeeded, you never disappointed us even once. I know that you love us, and you will continue to love us and protect us in the future.”

His sister, Nikol, said, “You were a good brother, you did all the right things. You always told me what was right and what was wrong, you hugged me a lot… I’m asking you to visit me in my dreams so we can talk. You always said I didn’t need to worry about you.”

“I will achieve all of my and your dreams, as you always wanted,” she added. “I’ll take care of your girlfriend because I know how much you love her.”

Speaking at a ceremony marking one year since October 7, Nik’s mother, Katya, said “I miss you. I miss your strong hug, your wide shoulders.”

“I miss your wonderful and captivating smile and the simple things that were just ours — texting each morning, our messages,” she said. “I still send you, ‘Good morning, my boy, take care of yourself,’ except now you no longer answer.”

“I miss cooking together. I always asked you what you wanted me to make and you said, ‘Nothing, I want us to cook together,’ and then we’d make all your favorite tasty things,” Katya continued. “I miss the big things, the mess you would always leave behind you, the lights you would leave on everywhere in the house because for a year there is darkness everywhere.”

“I miss the noise in the house, the parties with friends, the karaoke, to hear you sing, to see you happy,” she added. “Because the quiet that you left behind is awful. I miss the laundry on the weekends, how I would wash and iron the green uniform with pride. I miss so many things — a whole evening is not enough to say them all, but most of all I miss you.”

Read more Those We Have Lost stories here.

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