Ilay Nachman, 23: Off-duty Shin Bet agent defended friends at rave

Ilay Nachman, 23, an off-duty Shin Bet agent, from Even Yehuda, was killed while trying to battle the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival on October 7.

Ilay attended the rave with a group of close friends, including Matan Ekstein and Addir Mesika. With the start of the rocket fire, they sought safety in a roadside bomb shelter not far from the site of the festival.

Matan and another friend tried to create a diversion while sprinting out of the shelter, and Matan was slain. Then Ilay and Addir decided to head out and fight back against the Hamas gunmen despite being unarmed. They were both killed in the battle, although several of their friends ultimately survived and were rescued from the shelter.

Ilay was buried on October 12 in Even Yehuda. He is survived by his parents, Eyal and Ifat and his brother Ravid.

Born and raised in Even Yehuda, a town near Netanya, Ilay attended school in Kibbutz Shefayim, and played basketball and surfed, according to a state eulogy.

He took surfing trips in Israel and abroad, and loved to travel with friends, his high school wrote in an obituary. It described him as having a well-developed sense of justice, being opinionated and true to himself.

After finishing high school, Ilay enlisted in the IDF in 2018 and served in the Paratroopers Brigade, including as a squad commander. During his military service he accompanied Taglit Birthright trips as well as helped train groups of low-motivation recruits at the Havat Hashomer base.

Following his release, Ilay served as a Jewish Agency emissary at the Pinemere Camp in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2023 and then traveled around the US and South America for several months.

The camp described Ilay as a “gentle giant. His infectious laugh, caring nature, and love of Israel made him a pleasure to be around, and the type of role model both campers and staff could look up to. Pinemere was a place he loved with all his heart.”

In early 2023, Ilay joined the Shin Bet, serving in its security branch, the agency wrote in a eulogy. The agency said that even from the start of his service, he strove “to be a professional, to master knowledge, to open himself up to intriguing and challenging worlds. His managers described Ilay as a responsible worker who managed to get the most out of his job.”

He was also slated to start a degree in entrepreneurship and business administration at Reichman University.

Ilay’s friends and family created a line of T-shirts inspired by his tattoos and his lifestyle, adorned with a disco ball, a goldfish, a palm tree, cactus and more.

His girlfriend, Arbel, wrote on Facebook that “Ilay smiled at life, always sought good in everyone, loved when everyone around him was happy, laughing, smiling, and never missed an opportunity to be happy and to make others happy.”

“My Ilay, I love you and miss you in a way that words can never describe,” she added. “I hope you’re celebrating up there.”

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