Sgt. 1st Class Dor Mangadi, 24: Brother who made the world magical
Police officer was killed battling Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7
Sgt. First Class Dor Mangadi, 24, a police officer in the coordination of enforcement operations unit (MATPA), from Rosh Ha’ayin, was killed on October 7 battling the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Be’eri.
Dor was called into work early that morning with the start of the attack, and headed south to meet up with his fellow officers and receive orders. He was sent with seven other police officers into Be’eri, the site of some of the heaviest fighting that day. As they entered the kibbutz, their jeeps were ambushed by an onslaught of RPGs and gunfire, and seven of them were killed, including Dor and Supt. Vadim Blih.
Because of the heavy fire damage to the jeeps and the chaos in Be’eri, it took 10 days for his body to be identified. Dor was buried on October 16 in Rosh Ha’ayin. In March, his family was told that additional bones belonging to Dor were found near where he was killed, and his grave was reopened to have them placed inside.
He is survived by his parents, Iris and Shaltiel, and his five siblings Nir, Shani, Yoni, Talya and Maayan.
During his mandatory army service, Dor served in the Golani Brigade, and after finishing he enlisted in the Israel Police. His older brother Nir and his younger brother Yoni are also both police officers. Loved ones said that he was very close to his family members, in particular his mother, who he took care of with great devotion.
Two months after he was killed, his brother, Nir, wrote on Instagram that the loss was still impossible to comprehend.
“Time hasn’t healed anything, not the pain, not the longing, it has only intensified and increased it,” wrote Nir. “My Dor, I miss you, your smile, your voice, your presence. My heart hurts, bleeds, burns with longing… my brother, my blood, I would do anything to bring you back, if only it were possible. I love you my beloved brother, and I miss you endlessly.”
Dor’s older sister, Talya, wrote on Facebook about how much she misses him, “I miss your craziness, I miss our arguments, I miss sitting with you at night on the balcony, I miss the moments you took care of Mom, we are all trying to be with her but you were the best of everyone. I miss the moments you went nuts cleaning the house and handing out orders.”
“You are the best police officer and warrior, you are a hero, you are the kid with the biggest heart, the most unique of your friends, the magic in the world,” she added. “It drives me crazy to think that you will never walk through the door again and shout, ‘Dor the king has arrived,’ it drives me crazy that your chair will sit empty on Shabbat and holidays, it drives me crazy that your room will remain forever a memorial to you.”
A month after he was killed his mother, Iris, wrote on Facebook that on October 7, Dor “left with a smile and you didn’t know it was the last time I would see you.”
“I sat for days and for hours on the sofa waiting, that you would maybe enter and jump on me, but it didn’t happen,” she added. “My Dor, my child, my life has changed, I sit every day and scream in my heart, in pain, refusing to believe. I can’t believe I will never see you again, I don’t know how to go on, how to get up, how? All I have is a huge hole in my heart.”
In April, Iris wrote again to “my son — I always knew that you were a mother’s hero. I didn’t need any proof of that. I need you here now, beside me, not up above as a hero to everyone.”
