First Sgt. Elior Ifrah, 34: A ‘perfectionist’ with ‘hands of gold’
Killed battling the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival on October 7
First Sgt. Elior Ifrah, 34, a police detective in the Negev district, from Ofakim, was killed while battling the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival on October 7.
Elior was working as a police officer helping to secure the festival that morning. With the start of the rocket attacks, he called his wife at home and told her that things were crazy and he was trying to help everyone leave. Shortly afterward, he called to warn her of the terrorist invasion, telling her to lock the doors and close the shutters at home in Ofakim.
At the site of the rave, Elior worked to help partygoers flee and hide, protecting them with his body until his very last bullets. He was shot and killed while calling on others to flee, alongside his friend and colleague First Sgt. Sharon Rahmani.
He was buried in Beersheba on October 10. He is survived by his wife, Hen, their three children, Lavi, 7, Harel, 5, and Ilay, who was born 7 months after his father was killed. Elior is also survived by his parents, Rita and Zion, and his brothers Shlomi and Avihai.
Born and raised in Beersheba, Elior was always good with his hands, including focusing on art during school, always being handy around the house and later even helping to build his own home. He completed his IDF service in the Border Police, staying on past the mandatory period and moving to serve in the Gaza Division, according to an Ofakim municipal eulogy.
In 2015, Elior enlisted in the Israel Police, serving as a detective in the Negev District’s investigative and intelligence unit. Loved ones described him as dedicated to the job, always aspiring to learn and develop further in the role and bring new ideas and technological advances to the unit.
He was a doting father to Lavi and Harel, and he was thrilled about the newest baby on the way — which the couple had only found out about not long before Elior was killed.
His father-in-law, Vili, wrote on Instagram to “Elior, my beloved son-in-law with the permanent smile and kind heart. You always helped me, always volunteered to assist others in everything. You knew it all. I will miss you so much. I promise to watch over my Hen and the sweet grandchildren you left us.”
His wife, Hen, told a local news site that Elior “always said that nothing was impossible. You want it? Work for it. When he took a project upon himself he would always carry it out in the best way, he was a perfectionist with hands of gold, he researched and learned out of curiosity and ambition to be the best. The salt of the earth.”
In their own home in Ofakim, which they moved to five years before Elior was killed, he played a role from start to finish, she said, “the plaster to the a/c units, the pergola, carpentry and the closets. We dreamed together and we got to achieve those dreams… Elior always said that anyone can achieve the dreams in their heart with their own hands.”
“He had such high levels of generosity, he always helped others with patience and calm,” she added, “with a smile on his face and crazy charisma that bowled people over. A funny guy. His friends say that even after his death he continues to help them in moving ways.”