Those we have lost

Sgt. Lavi Buchnik, 20: Paratrooper ‘put everyone ahead of himself’

Killed battling Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7

Sgt. Lavi Buchnik (Courtesy)
Sgt. Lavi Buchnik (Courtesy)

Sgt. Lavi Shmuel Megged Buchnik, 20, a soldier in the Paratroopers Brigade from Peduim, was killed on October 7 while battling the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Kissufim.

At 7:20 a.m., his mother said, Lavi called and told her to stay in the house and to lock all the doors and windows, and that was the last time they spoke.

Lavi and his comrades were directed to Sderot to battle the invasion there, but while they were on their way were told instead to head to Kissufim. Along the way they engaged in battles with terrorists on the side of the highway, killing many of them. Inside the kibbutz, they engaged in a fierce firefight, and even after being wounded, Lavi kept fighting until he was killed in battle.

Lavi, a Negevist, was in the middle of a squad commander’s course when he was slain in Kissufim alongside five others in the course: Staff Sgt. Omri Peretz, Staff Sgt. Regev Amar, Sgt. Matan Malka and Sgt. Bar Yankilov and Staff Sgt. Adam Agmon.

He was buried in Peduim on October 10. He is survived by his parents, Miri and Shalom, and his seven siblings, Yosef, Rachel, Yehudit, Tal, Renee, Odeya and Roi.

The seventh out of the eight children in the family, Lavi was born in Jerusalem and raised in the small southern moshav of Peduim, according to an online eulogy.

During high school, he volunteered with the Fire and Rescue Services and was also active in his local youth group. After high school, he completed a year of national service with an agricultural group in Moshav Talmei Elazar in the north.

In December 2022, he enlisted in the IDF for his mandatory service, and though he had dreamed of serving in the Shayetet 13 elite Navy unit, he was ultimately placed in the Paratroopers Brigade. His family said that Lavi had been planning his army service for years and was dedicated to playing a meaningful role in the military.

He was undergoing a squad commander’s course at the time he was killed, and was also planning to later pursue an officer’s course, his loved ones said.

“Lavi was a smiling and sarcastic boy, he stood out for his love of the country and his dedication to the people important to him and was prepared to go above and beyond for them,” according to an online eulogy written by his family. “Lavi loved the country, and from a young age, he was looking forward to enlisting and having a meaningful service in the IDF as a combat soldier. Lavi was a prankster of a kid, funny, with a smile that lit up every room he entered. He was the best friend in the world — loyal, caring, volunteering and helping, put everyone ahead of himself.”

His close friend, Neta Kachlon, wrote on Instagram that when he heard about Lavi’s bravery on the last day of his life, “I wasn’t surprised at all, because it was the most you thing to do.”

“What do I have left to say? How much you were my best friend? That’s already a cliche,” he added. “To say what a hero you were, everyone already knows, to say you were such a good person, special and wonderful, everybody already knows. There aren’t enough words in the world to describe how much, my God, how much people like you are missed in the world. That too everyone already knows.”

“Lavi was a very, very special kid, sensitive,” his mother, Miri, told Army Radio. “The things that were the most important to him were friendship, generosity, volunteering, love of the country and the homeland.”

Miri said, “Lavi really wanted for there to be unity, and for people to do only good, and I ask people to choose that path.”

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