Thousands pay last respects to soldier Tamir Nimrodi at Kfar Saba funeral

A funeral for Tamir Nimrodi, whose body was returned to Israel on Tuesday after being held by Hamas for two years, draws thousands to the military cemetery in Kfar Saba.

Nimrodi, 18, a soldier taken hostage from his base near the Erez Crossing on October 7, 2023, was killed soon after during an IDF air raid.

His father Alon Nimrodi, tells his son in a eulogy that he fought every possible way to bring him home.

He describes Tamir’s powerful hugs, his rolling laughter with his sisters, his anxiety and the medication that he abandoned when he enlisted.

“You fought bravely against your own fears,” says Nimrodi. “Minutes after you were kidnapped, with that same look of terror, you pulled yourself together and wove a quick and clever plan that you thought might help you survive.”

His father also speaks about the feelings of guilt he has for pushing his son to enlist, telling him there was no draft-dodging in their family, and that he didn’t oppose his son’s placement on the Gaza Strip border.

“I will forever blame myself for pushing you to enlist. I told you that in our household there is no such thing as draft-dodging. I didn’t oppose your deployment on the Gaza border. Forgive me, my firstborn, my beloved — forgive me!” says Nimrodi.

(Nimrodi had ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder, and was initially enlisted with a low profile, his mother said in a Ynet (Hebrew) interview in January, but got his profile raised and had interviewed for officer training a week before the Hamas attack.)

Nimrodi’s sister, Amit, 14, tells her brother she misses him, her best friend, and misses the nights they stayed up talking.

She mentions the note found inside her brother’s uniform, when he wrote that his goals were to help as many people as possible, to build a close circle of friends, and not to hurt anyone.

“To me, that is your will,” says Amit, “and I will do everything I can to fulfill it.”