Ziv Shopen, 55: Air conditioning technician who had a travel bug

Ziv Shopen, 55, from Kibbutz Be’eri, was slain while attempting to defend his beloved kibbutz from the Hamas invasion on October 7.

Ziv was in Tel Aviv that weekend when the Hamas onslaught began, even posting a video on Facebook at 7:41 a.m. noting the surprise by which residents of the city reacted to sirens that were commonplace to him.

But when Ziv realized how serious the situation was in his beloved kibbutz, he decided he had to head down south and take part in the battle to defend it, his loved ones said. Ziv crossed through four different barriers attempting to stop him from getting there, but was not deterred, despite being unarmed, according to a state eulogy.

Upon reaching the outskirts of the kibbutz around 1 p.m., Ziv joined up with a group of police officers who were heading inside, offering to help them as he was deeply familiar with the layout of the area. Before long, their two jeeps were hit by RPG fire and heavy gunfire, and Ziv and eight of the police officers were killed, including Supt. Vadim Blih, Chief Supt. Avi Amar, Sgt. 1st Class Dor Mangadi.

His body was not identified for 10 days.

Ziv was buried in Beersheba on October 17, less than a week before what would have been his 56th birthday. On September 20, 2024, he was reburied in his beloved Kibbutz Be’eri. He is survived by his sisters, Dganit and Shani.

He was born in Beersheba, the eldest child of Eli and Natali, immigrants from Tunisia, according to a kibbutz eulogy. In the 10th grade, Ziv decided he wanted to explore kibbutz life, and joined Be’eri, fitting in seamlessly to the agricultural life.

During his mandatory army service, Ziv served in the Paratroopers Brigade, and continued to do reserve duty for many years. Returning to Be’eri, Ziv studied refrigeration engineering and became the go-to guy in the kibbutz for all air conditioning needs, making him a popular resident.

He was a devoted fan of the Hapoel Beersheba soccer team and had a love for travel, particularly in Asia, always picking up new friends along the way. In his early 50s he took off on a long trip overseas, spending two years traveling around by himself and collecting experiences. After he was killed, a member of the kibbutz found a book on the floor of his home: “1,000 Places to See Before You Die.”

His sister, Dganit, told a Kan podcast that Ziv “loved the kibbutz so much, loved the people there so much, the unique lifestyle there.”

“His love for the place was so big that I can understand why he did it [insisted on joining the fight on October 7]. He wasn’t thinking about himself… He had to enter and to save lives,” she recounted. “I’m so proud of him, but my heart hurts so much.”

Dganit said her brother “was always a hero, always helped others… If Ziv ever saw that an elderly person needed help with their air conditioning, he would drop everything and run to help them… He loved life, he really loved kids,” she said. “If you ask me who Ziv is, he’s a person who from the most difficult and most complicated situation, he could find the good.”

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