Ron Weinberg, 24: Software engineer ‘did everything with a smile’
Murdered by Hamas terrorists while fleeing the Supernova music festival on October 7
Ron Weinberg, 24, from Yokneam, was murdered by Hamas terrorists while trying to flee the Supernova music festival on October 7.
Ron attended the rave with two friends, Yuval and Tamir, and with the start of the rocket fire they fled the scene via car. They were attacked by terrorists lying in wait along the road, and Ron was killed instantly while Yuval was wounded. Yuval Siman Tov and Tamir Leshetz succeeded in running from the vehicle and hiding until they were rescued.
Ron was buried in Kibbutz Ein Hashofet on October 10. He is survived by his parents, Yifat and Syoma and his younger sister, Gali.
Born in Kiryat Ono, he moved with is family when he was 2 years old to Yokneam in the north, where he was raised, attending high school in nearby Haifa. As a child he loved soccer and superheroes, dressing up as his favorite characters, according to a state eulogy. His studies focused on robotics and physics, and he was known as a computer whiz among his loved ones.
After finishing high school, he enlisted in the IDF in 2017, serving for four years in a tech unit in the Intelligence Corps, staying on past the mandatory period. After he was released, he moved in with roommates in Ramat Gan and worked for the startup Sorbet, which helps people convert their paid vacation days into cash. He later moved to work as a software engineer for the cybersecurity company Zscaler.
He loved to travel, including spending several months touring South America in 2023, before returning in August and moving to Tel Aviv with roommates. He also loved music and music festivals, playing the guitar and keyboard, and enjoyed video games and soccer as well as working out at the gym.
At a memorial at his high school in November 2023, Ron’s sister, Gali, spoke about everything she’d heard over the past month from his friends and loved ones, “how you had a talent for keeping in touch… how you did everything with a smile and laugh that lit up the room.”
“Recently you moved to Tel Aviv and you really blossomed,” she said. “You thought about taking another trip, about maybe starting university, you wanted to build something of your own. The world was open in front of you, all the options were good and you just had to choose.”
Gali said she had hoped “to grow up and hang out together and laugh and seek advice from each other. I admired you, your charisma, everything you did. You were my role model without me even realizing it. The piano I started because I was jealous of you…. what job to do in the army… as my big brother, you showed me the way, and I followed you and was happy because I knew I had someone to rely on.”
His father, Syoma, told a Kan podcast that Ron “loved his friends, loved the good life, music, dancing, parties, trips and treks abroad. He had a lot of plans and dreams, including to launch an initiative that would leave a significant impact on the world.”
Syoma said Ron was “really glowing” in the final months of his life. “You couldn’t miss it. More than anything, he was a good person, with a good soul.”