“People need to wake up and treat this as a national emergency,” said Ronen Shalev, whose son Roi, a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre, took his own life two days ago. Speaking through grief, he described families “shattered” since October 7, the struggles his son faced, and “the happy boy, full of friends and love for life” that Roi once was.
Ronen also spoke of his wife — Roi’s mother — who died by suicide shortly after the massacre because of the trauma, and who has yet to be officially recognized as a victim of terrorism.
“The Nova festival wasn’t a small event,” he said. “There were 4,000 people there — 4,000 broken families, 4,000 survivors clinging to life somehow. With therapy, without therapy, with support or without it, but barely holding on.” His goal, he added, is “to push for the establishment of a structured and professional system specifically for the Nova families. I call them the Nova families because this is something much broader — it’s whole families: the survivors, parents and siblings, all paying the price.”
Ronen said his son struggled deeply after surviving the attack. “First of all, he didn’t get enough treatment. Maybe he didn’t want it enough. The point is to raise awareness — to push survivors to seek help,” he said. “Many think they’re fine, that they can get through it. But they don’t understand how much they need it. We need to educate and support the parents too, so they know how to explain and encourage treatment. Therapy saves lives.”
He said he never imagined Roi would end his life. “He was full of life — the happiest kid in the world, surrounded by friends, full of love. We didn’t see this coming,” he said. “We knew he was in a bad state the last few days, after all the memorials for October 7, and there was also a memorial for Mepal on Thursday. I never thought it would go this far.”
The Defense Ministry has since recognized Roi as a victim of terrorism, but Ronen continues to fight for recognition of his wife as well. “The real problem is the second circle — the ones who die by suicide afterward, the parents who can’t bear it,” he said. “Roi’s mother also took her life because of what happened, and she still hasn’t been recognized. We’re fighting for that recognition.”
Ronen’s daughter Lior also survived the Nova massacre. “She managed to escape and was rescued by Rami Davidian,” he said. “She’s getting treatment too. She’s doing better — she went through a little less hell than Roi did, so her condition is somewhat improved.”
Roi, 30, is survived by his father Ronen, his brother Ido and his sister Lior. His mothe died by suicide shortly after the October 7 attack. His funeral is scheduled for Monday at the Kfar Yona cemetery, where the family had lived until recently.
On Friday evening, shortly before taking his life, Roi posted on social media that he “couldn’t go on anymore” and apologized to his loved ones, prompting concern among friends and family. He was later seen at a gas station along Route 57 filling a jerry can with fuel. Hours later, he was found dead in his car, which had caught fire near Poleg Beach in Netanya.