Sgt. Ori Locker, 19: Jokester who dreamed of joining the Shin Bet

Sgt. Ori Locker, 19, a Golani soldier from Pardes Hanna, was killed battling Hamas terrorists on October 7.

He is survived by his parents, Orit and Eyal, and his two brothers, Tamir and Elad.

On the morning of October 7, Tamir, Ori’s identical twin, told Israel’s Channel 12 that he felt as though he was being shot in the stomach with Kalashnikov rounds. “Bullet, bullet, bullet, going up, up, up…and then it [was] as though my soul ascended,” he recounted. “And I told my father, ‘Dad, Ori is dead.'”

The two had a very strong bond. They were always in the same school class and participated in the same extracurricular activities. When one was hurt or sick, the other could feel the pain. “We never separated for a moment,” Tamir told the media.

The twins’ paths diverged for the first time when they joined the IDF at age 18; Tamir joined the Paratroopers Brigade, and Ori went to the Golani Brigade.

Their parents instilled in them a love for the State of Israel and a desire to give back to the country from a very young age, Eyal and Orit explained in a video their twin boys made for a high school film class, which documented the boys’ preparation to enlist in combat positions. Eyal is seen in the film conducting physical training exercises with them and describing how his service in an IDF combat unit, for which he was still regularly fulfilling reserve duties, influenced his sons’ choices for their military service.

“We knew from the moment Ori and Tamir were born that they would follow in their father’s footsteps and serve in combat units,” Orit said in the video published on YouTube in February 2023.

Locker was stationed near Kibbutz Zikim, and his family told media outlets that he had recently complained of boredom, telling them, “Nothing is going on here.”

On the morning of October 7, Locker was on patrol with his company commander and another two soldiers in an armored Jeep. When the fighting began, they were sent to a post near the town of Netiv Ha’asara, where both a tank and a “Namer” armored vehicle had been disabled. The commander went to protect the post itself, leaving the three soldiers to protect the armored vehicles, which had more soldiers trapped inside.

According to Locker’s parents, he and his comrades fought the Hamas onslaught outside Netiv Ha’asara for about an hour and succeeded in killing several terrorists. However, the three of them were eventually overpowered by the sheer number of Hamas combatants, who made their way into Netiv Ha’asara and slaughtered some 20 residents.

Locker’s family members told Channel 13 that he and his twin shared a love of music, particularly the works of Shlomo Artzi, who came to the shiva.

“Dear Ori,” wrote his aunt Revital Neeman Yahel on Facebook, “your favorite singer is in the living room of your house coming to visit you.”

Locker also left behind a girlfriend of nearly three years, Mika, who said at his funeral: “My Ori, my other half… I cannot believe I am talking about you in the past tense. How do we keep going from here?”

“He was the funniest person ever, really… He knew how to make people laugh. He loved life,” Tamir told Channel 12 in mid-October.

“My Ori, I miss you,” Orit wrote on Facebook soon after her son’s death. “You were the perfect son who brought us immense pride.”

Locker’s friends and family described him as a caring friend, loving brother, and son. He was always looking out for others, offering support or cracking a joke to bring up the mood. His mother told media outlets that he dreamed of joining the Shin Bet after his army service.

“He loved life,” his mother told Israeli radio station 103FM. “He didn’t get to live very much life, but at the same time, he lived so, so much.”

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