At the highest point in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, not far from the burned homes of the youth neighborhood that became one of the symbols of the October 7 massacre, two simple three-story buildings still stand.
For years, they housed students who lived on the kibbutz. After the war began, they became soldiers’ quarters and a temporary Magen David Adom station. Now, two and a half years later, residents and bereaved families are trying to imagine a different future there.
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Mickey Michaeli, father of Omri, a Duvdevan fighter who was killed, is establishing a pre-army academy in Kibbutz Kfar Aza
(Photo: Herzl Yosef)
Within months, if everything goes according to plan, the buildings will again be filled with young people — this time as home to a new pre-army academy named Me’a, Hebrew for “100,” in memory of Team 100 from the elite Duvdevan unit, which fought in the kibbutz on October 7.
The academy is expected to begin operating in September, alongside the return of some of Kfar Aza’s residents.
Behind the initiative are the families of Duvdevan fighters who fell in the battle for Kfar Aza, led by Mickey Michaeli, father of Sgt. Maj. (res) Omri Michaeli, who was killed after entering a home where terrorists were barricaded.
“We want to take the deep bond that was created between the unit’s fighters and the members of the kibbutz one step further,” Michaeli said. “Precisely in the place where such deep grief was born, we want to build hope — to have young people here who will become an integral part of the community’s rehabilitation.”
Omri Michaeli is also remembered from a widely circulated photo taken during Operation Protective Edge, in which he was evacuated to the hospital on a stretcher while holding an Israeli flag after being wounded in battle in Gaza.
When the operation began, he was working in Africa. For his bravery as a fighter, he later received the IDF chief of staff’s citation.
“He told his commander, ‘Wait for me,’ got on a flight, and from the airport went straight to the unit and entered Gaza,” his father recalled. “That’s where he was seriously wounded.”
But the severe injury did not stop him. On the morning of October 7, Michaeli immediately understood that something extraordinary was unfolding. By 7:30 a.m., he had headed to his unit. From there, he and two other Team 100 fighters drove south in a private car. Along the way, they encountered and fought terrorists before arriving in Kfar Aza in the late afternoon.
“They first entered the eastern side of the kibbutz, the older area, and then continued to the youth neighborhood,” his father said. “There, they met a force that had been fighting since the morning and was exhausted. One of the fighters told me Omri arrived and managed to lift them up. He told them, ‘Come on, let’s get to work,’ and started pushing them forward. That was very typical of him.”
Team 100 is a skilled breaching force, but in Kfar Aza, the mission was especially complex. In every home, there was concern that hostages might be inside, so the troops moved with extreme caution.
“They went apartment by apartment without firing,” Mickey said. “Every entry was very calculated.”
At the entrance to the third apartment, they reached the home of the late Nitzan Libstein, son of the late Ofir Libstein, the former head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council — Omri was shot at close range.
“As he fell, he still managed to say, ‘Keep going,’ and then lost consciousness,” his father said.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
“Only later did we understand that under the cover of the battle, Nitzan managed to escape the apartment after the terrorists shot him,” Mickey said. “He apparently escaped through the safe room window, and sadly, two days later, he was found dead after bleeding to death.”
In an episode of the Israeli investigative program “Uvda” aired about a month ago, security footage from a gas station near the entrance to the kibbutz revealed another glimpse of Omri’s character shortly before his death.
He and another team member were seen entering the station and taking several items during a brief pause in the fighting. Despite the impossible circumstances, Omri insisted on leaving his details so he could pay later.
“Let’s leave them a note with a phone number, so they can charge us on Bit or something. It doesn’t feel right,” he was heard saying on the security footage. Half an hour later, he was killed.
“They were very hungry,” his father said. “Omri wrote down exactly what he took and left a phone number so someone could pay. Two weeks later I tried to pay myself, and they told me to let it go. That was Omri — even in the greatest chaos, he thought about others.”
Since his son’s death, Mickey has come to Kfar Aza almost every week, sometimes two or three times a week.
“I kept thinking about how to lift both the bereaved families and the spirit of the community,” he said.
That thinking eventually gave rise to the academy. According to Mickey, the kibbutz received several proposals in recent years to establish different academies there, but ultimately chose their initiative.
“We are managing this together with the kibbutz,” he said. “This is my life’s mission — to create long-term commemoration here.”
He stressed that the project is not only a private memorial for his son.
“The unit lost six fighters that day in Kfar Aza, and since October 7, 12 fighters have fallen — in Kfar Aza, at the Nova festival, in Sderot and in other places,” he said. “This is a commemoration of a team and of an entire unit.”
“Omri was killed at 35. He served in Duvdevan for 17 years. Even after he was discharged, he continued doing 100 reserve days a year. The army was an inseparable part of him. He was a person without inhibitions. If there is a goal, you reach it — even if you are wounded along the way, even if you fall.”
Kfar Aza officials also emphasize that, for them, the academy is much more than an educational framework.
Community director Zion Regev said the kibbutz was not ready for a long time to bring a pre-army academy into the community.
“What we liked about Mickey and his people was that this is a completely new academy, one whose content and essence can be built together with us,” he said.
The expectation, he said, is that the academy’s participants will be involved in the daily life of the recovering community, alongside families gradually returning to the kibbutz.
“We expect them to help organize cultural activities, operate public buildings, work in gardening and education — to see young people walking around the kibbutz and helping bring life back to the place,” Regev said.
The kibbutz also hopes the participants’ stay will not be only temporary.
“We would be happy for them to study in the area, live here, maybe even in the youth neighborhood,” Regev said. “Kfar Aza needs high-quality young people.”
For now, the project still requires renovations, finishing work and additional funding. Still, Mickey Michaeli is convinced the site will be filled with life again.
“We want to start calmly, and by the third year reach 60 or 70 participants — and grow from there,” he said.
Registration for the first cohort, he added, is nearing completion. Candidates can apply through the Tzav Halev association’s website.