Staff Sgt. Idan Raz, 20, a Golani Brigade soldier, from Kibbutz Ein Hamifratz, was killed on October 7 battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel.
Idan was stationed at the Paga IDF outpost that day, and with the start of the rocket fire, headed to the on-base bomb shelter. A group of Hamas gunmen invaded the base, and Idan and his comrades fought back from within the shelter, battling for hours.
Several hours into the battle, the Hamas gunmen decided to set the building on fire, and Idan and three of his comrades — Staff Sgt. Yakir Levi, Staff Sgt. Shalev Baranes and Staff Sgt. Itay Glisko — decided to head out and fight them face to face. All four of them were killed in the battle, but others inside the shelter were saved.
Idan was buried in Ein Hamifratz on October 11. At his funeral, mourners arrived clad in red, the color of his favorite team, Hapoel Tel Aviv.
He is survived by his parents, Arnon and Eti, his siblings Shaked, Ziv and Yuval, and his girlfriend Yuval.
Born and raised in the kibbutz near Acre in the north, Idan was the third of the four children in the family, and was a natural-born leader from a young age, according to an online eulogy. Starting in 7th grade, he volunteered with an after-school program, building close connections with local kids and a love of informal education.
When he was 14 he adopted a dog, Bomba, and they had a very close bond. He loved to cook, and was always trying out new experiments in the kitchen, but also loved going out to eat. His friends joked that Idan had three major loves — Hapoel Tel Aviv, his friends and the restaurant chain Humongous, known for its large portions. He would also write limericks, play soccer and ride horses, his family wrote in an online memorial.
In December 2021, Idan enlisted in the IDF, serving in the Golani Brigade, despite being exempt due to a severe bee allergy. Instead, Idan pursued a special treatment to build up his antibodies in order to allow him to enlist.
While Idan had long dreamed of an extended overseas trip after being released from the army, a few weeks before he was killed he surprised his family when he said that instead he wanted to return to the kibbutz and pursue a career in education.
Idan’s girlfriend, Yuval, wrote on Instagram to the “love of my life.”
“How can it be that as each day passes I am learning to live without you, without hearing your voice, without waiting for you to come home on the weekends, to sleep with you all cuddled up — who will protect me if not you?” she wrote.
“On the one hand, I’m so proud of you, my personal hero, now a hero for the whole country, but mostly for me, but on the other hand, why did you leave me here alone?” she added. “Where are you to tell me that everything is OK and it’ll all be over soon and we’ll sit and watch the game together… everyone always laughed at us that there wasn’t a moment when we weren’t holding hands, and now I walk in the street and just imagine that your hand is in mine.”
His mother, Eti, told the Davar news outlet that after having two daughters who were calm, Idan “was the total opposite. He pushed at every framework, he was constantly testing boundaries, testing us. An opinionated kid, you could never miss him. But he always went after his truth and sought justice,” she said, noting many calls from the school and tough conversations with teachers, “but we never gave up on him.”
Eti said that when she heard about Idan’s actions on October 7, “it was clear to us that if they decided to go out and fight, that Idan would be the first to storm ahead.”
Read more Those We Have Lost stories here.
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