Yagev Buchshtav, 35: Animal lover and multi-talented musician

Yagev Buchshtav, 35, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from his home in Kibbutz Nirim on October 7 and brought to Gaza. In July 2024, the IDF confirmed that he had been slain while in captivity. His body was recovered on August 19, 2024, and returned to Israel for burial.

Yagev was kidnapped from his home along with his wife, Rimon Buchshtav Kirsht, who was released in November 2023 as part of a weeklong truce. The couple was held together, and Rimon said she did not want to leave him behind, but was forced to do so by their captors. Yagev’s mother said that they were told Yagev was executed by Hamas in February 2024 inside a tunnel as IDF troops were closing in.

His body was recovered by IDF troops from Khan Younis alongside those of Avraham Munder, Nadav Popplewell, Alex Dancyg, Chaim Peri and Yoram Metzger — who were all kidnapped alive and slain in captivity — during a military operation in August 2024.

Yagev was buried in Kibbutz Nirim on August 21, 2024. The family had already sat shiva after his death was confirmed a month earlier. He is survived by his wife, Rimon, his parents, Esther and Oren, and his younger siblings Nufar and Yuval.

He was a musician and soundman who built his own instruments, including electric guitars. He and Rimon were high school sweethearts who played together in the same band before losing touch and reconnecting a few years ago, getting married in 2021.

They both loved music and animals, filling their home with both, including several cats and multiple dogs. They rescued abused animals and brought them home to rehabilitate them with love.

Adele Raemer, who lived next to the Buchshtav home in Nirim, recalled in a Times of Israel blog post always hearing “music. And sawing. Music, because that was what Yagev loved, and he practiced often, experimenting with different sounds and tempos. Sawing, because both the boys loved to work with wood, carving statues and building musical instruments.”

Yagev “was a talented craftsman and musician who loved experimenting with different sounds,” she wrote. “He grew up in my backyard. Literally. His parents’ home is right behind mine. He was kidnapped on October 7 together with his wife Rimon. She had been a student of mine: sharp as a whip and no one’s fool. She grew up on Kibbutz Magen, right nearby. They were high school sweethearts who went their own ways during the army, then found each other again, and became inseparable. They had a home filled with music and pets and love.”

Yagev’s sister, Nufar, shared on Facebook the eulogy she gave at his memorial ceremony: “I don’t know how to sum up an entire life in just a few lines. You’re so much more than a big brother and a musician and a loving husband to Rimon and a talented cook.”

Nufar said Yagev “always was and always will be my big brother, the one who understands everything, who I can seek advice from on a million topics and somehow always finds the right answer. The fact that amid all that knowledge you always stayed modest and quiet says everything. In so many ways you were better than all of us, you always succeeded in seeing others, looking at the sides and seeing those who were invisible… you taught me to believe in people and not to close my eyes.”

At Yagev’s funeral in August, Rimon said: “I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for saving me. Not just on October 7 — you’ve been saving me for years.

“Thank you for teaching me about love and for making me stronger, I love you,” she said, adding that he “deserved so much better.”

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