Staff Sgt. Ido Harush, 21: Armored Corps soldier with a love of cars

Staff Sgt. Ido Harush, 21, a soldier in the 7th Armored Brigade from Mitspe Ramon, was killed fighting a Hamas invasion of the Yiftah IDF outpost next to Zikim on October 7.

When the Hamas attack began, Ido was on a break after finishing a shift that morning, according to an IDF eulogy. Knowing that his comrade was alone on guard duty at the entrance to the base, Ido grabbed his weapon and ran in shorts and flip flops toward her. Once there he ordered two other soldiers to take up positions, and managed to kill five terrorists before he was slain in the gun battle.

Ido was buried on October 8 in Meitar. He is survived by his parents, Shalhevet and Yaniv, and his sisters Rotem and Adaya.

Born in Beersheba, he grew up the oldest sibling to two younger sisters in a traditional family in Mizpe Ramon. He loved to read and play guitar, his family said, and enjoyed learning about guns and visiting shooting ranges. He had a love for cars, and dreamed of one day buying a Chevy Camaro, while in the meantime getting around in a jalopy and spent his free time on off-road adventures in nature.

Before enlisting in the IDF, Ido spent time at the Minsharim Kalu pre-army academy in Kibbutz Magan Michael, which is run by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

His girlfriend, Raz Ohayon, wrote on an Instagram memorial page that “from the first moment we had a special connection, with jokes and laughter and sentences that only we understood and laughed at them… thank you for the random drives in the middle of the night, for every moment that I cried to you and laughed with you, that you always made sure I would smile, when we sat together until late at night and listened to songs, when you played the guitar for me. Thank you, I will remember you and love you forever.”

Speaking to Channel 14, his father, Yaniv, said “Ido was a very unique boy, he studied at the pre-army academy of [legendary IDF commander] Muki Betser, Minsharim Kalu, he was a very Zionist boy, a very moral boy,” he said, noting that he himself is a career army officer and the two had many discussions about military history.

“I’ve seen very few kids who were so connected to the State of Israel, to loving Israel. He was very, very proud to be in the army, to be in the Armored Corps,” he said, noting that he passed up an opportunity to enter the elite pilot’s training course.

Through his army service, Yaniv said, Ido got to meet his childhood hero, Yom Kippur war hero Avigdor Kahalani, who came to his funeral and “spoke about their unique connection… and how much he loved and admired him.”

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