Staff Sgt. Zamir Burke, 20: Combat engineer dreamed of studying physics

Staff Sgt. Zamir Pinchas Burke, 20, a heavy equipment squad commander in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, from Beit Shemesh, was killed on November 29, 2024, while battling Hamas in Gaza.

Zamir was slain and another soldier was seriously wounded after being hit by anti-tank fire launched at the armored D-9 bulldozer they were operating in northern Gaza’s Jabalia.

He was buried on December 1 on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl. He is survived by his parents, Tammy and Jesse, and his three sisters, Me’elle, Advah and Leanne.

Born in Israel to Australian immigrant parents, Zamir grew up in Beit Shemesh and attended local schools. After graduating, he attended the Machanim hesder yeshiva in Gush Etzion.

He enlisted in the IDF in January 2023 and served in the Combat Engineering Corps.

Zamir was an active child who loved to volunteer and help others, his loved ones said. He was a longtime volunteer with the local Beit Shemesh chapter of Et La’asot, a nonprofit that works with children with special needs.

The organization said he continued to pay them visits even after he enlisted in the army, and left behind “so much light, modesty, commitment, joy, friendship, responsibility and devotion – he was an inspiration to us all.”

A dedicated student, standing out in math and physics, Zamir also taught himself how to play guitar, his family said. He was close to his whole family, including his grandparents on both sides. He felt a strong commitment to his military service and felt he was doing his part to defend the state, his loved ones recalled.

After his death, his corneas were donated, which his family said symbolized his lifelong spirit of giving.

His uncle, Danny Brill, told the Australian Jewish News that Zamir had been dreaming of visiting Australia and the Far East after finishing his army service, a place he’d never been: “He wanted to see his parents’ roots.”

Brill said that Zamir was very proud of his army service, “that the nature of his role was that you had to clear the way for other soldiers to be able to get through. Part of his job was to go through tunnels and his team was part of a team that found one of the kidnapped hostages, and he was extremely proud about that.”

He added that his nephew “was a person who really believed that there needs to be good in the world, and that people need to do good… as amazing as we thought Zamir was, we realized that it’s just a drop in the ocean from all of the other people that he had affected in his life, from his volunteering, his friends, his army… we were just really loving how much we’re learning about all these other parts of his world.”

At his funeral, Zamir’s father, Jesse, said he believed his son was “in a much better place now, smiling that huge smile of yours.”

“Zam was better than me in just about everything,” his father continued. “He loved music, classical music, religious music, you name it. You played your guitars, electric, non-electric and the keyboard, you knew how to cook and bake. You even worked at a hummus place as a chef.”

Together, Jesse said, “we discussed Plato, philosophy, theology, religion, history, political science – you aced all of these areas, you received top grades,” he recalled. “You were brilliant in math and even better in physics, your dream was to study at university pure physics – not engineering, pure physics. You were savvy in both low-tech and hi-tech, you hiked, went camping, abseiling and much more.”

“But above all, you were humble, modest, easygoing, loving, extremely kind, low maintenance – so kind… You were a doer,” he said. “You just kept on giving. A huge part of your living was giving.”

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