The mischievous boy who became a heroic commander: The story of Maj. Eyal Avnion
Some people have a presence that immediately inspires a sense of security when they enter a room. Maj. Eyal Avnion was one of them. Eyal, who was killed on July 1, 2024, in battle along the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza at the age of 25, left behind a grieving family, a profound legacy of leadership and personal journals revealing the mind of a leader who was ahead of his time.
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The mischievous boy who became mature and responsible
“Eyal was born after a difficult delivery. At one point, they had to use a vacuum,” his father, Avi, recalls. His mother, Sharon, remembers his energetic childhood with a smile: “He was very mischievous when he was little, full of energy, a happy kid. Everyone would make a mess, and somehow he was always the one who got caught.”
Eyal grew up alongside his brother, Ofir, who was two years older, and his younger sister, Neta. “By elementary school, I already felt we had this kind of communication and connection, like we were both brothers and friends,” Ofir says. For Neta, Eyal and Ofir were her anchors. “A protective brother. Really, two big brothers who were always looking out for me. There was that little sister’s admiration for her big brother, but also a sense of security.”
A major turning point came in high school, when he was transferred to a different class. The experience, which could have broken many teenagers, instead helped him mature. Sharon remembers how deeply upset he was over the pain he had caused her. Ofir explains: “It made him understand that if I don’t take responsibility for myself now, I’m just going to keep sliding backward. He needed a moment to get himself together.”
And Eyal did. At the end of 12th grade, he wrote a moving letter to his homeroom teacher about the meaningful journey they had taken together. He became a strong, determined young man, constantly striving to improve.
From the naval commando selection process to a revered Nahal commander
Sports were an inseparable part of Eyal’s life and his bond with his family. He loved running, took his training extremely seriously and set himself a clear goal: to be accepted into Shayetet 13, Israel’s elite naval commando unit. He stopped playing soccer in 11th grade, began training with a military preparation group and later enrolled at the Meitzar pre-military academy in northern Israel.
His great dream came true when Eyal completed the grueling selection process and was accepted into the elite unit. Then came a devastating setback. During training, his auditory nerve was damaged, leaving him almost completely deaf and suffering from severe tinnitus. His medical profile was lowered, forcing him to leave the unit. His family describes it as an “enormous crisis,” but Eyal refused to give up.
“That was when this all-out battle began over, ‘There is no way I’m not serving as a combat soldier in the army,’” Ofir recalls. Eyal transferred to an accelerated track in the Nahal Brigade, went on to squad commanders’ training and officers’ training, and graduated from each with distinction. It was there that he developed into a distinctive kind of commander: tough and highly demanding of his soldiers on the one hand, extraordinarily sensitive and humane on the other.
October 7: ‘The action is in the south, I’m coming’
After completing his military service, Eyal set out on his post-army trip through South America, the United States and Alaska. He planned to return to Israel for his brother Ofir’s wedding, scheduled for October 13. Then October 7 changed everything.
Eyal immediately reported for reserve duty in the north, but quickly realized the main focus of the fighting was elsewhere. He began making calls, reached a company commander in Nahal and told him: “I’m coming.” The next morning, he opened the flap of the company commander’s tent and announced: “I’m here.”
Later in the war, he attended a reserve company commanders’ course, completed it and was given command of his company.
During his final round of fighting in Gaza, something felt different. His family held a belated, subdued birthday celebration for him at home. “He was upset about going back because he had started studying,” Ofir says. “I had never seen him so unhappy about going back.”
Their fears were realized on July 1, 2024, when his company hit an explosive device along the Netzarim Corridor and Eyal was killed at the scene.
A handwritten testament and a legacy for the future
Eyal was a man of order, planning and documentation. In the personal journals he kept every day, he mapped out his life in meticulous detail: when he would begin his studies, when he would marry and when he would have children.
Once, after noticing that one of his soldiers was disorganized, Eyal told him to write everything down. He showed the soldier the life plan he had written for himself through a certain age and asked him to keep it in his pocket and check in on him over the years to see whether he had followed it.
The family’s pain is endless. His mother, Sharon, says wistfully: “Sometimes I’m cooking in the kitchen, and sometimes I feel like he’s simply sitting there with me.” His father adds: “I miss my son so, so much, and I’m trying to live my life the way he lived his.”
To commemorate his distinctive character, the family established a nonprofit organization in his memory. Avi gives lectures about his son, and the family is now preparing to publish a guided journal inspired by him, incorporating passages Eyal wrote and encouraging others to plan, write and strive to improve themselves.
“Eyal left me an extraordinary legacy, and I have to pass it on to the younger generation.”
The entire family knows that Eyal, who loved life and pursued his goals with unwavering determination, would expect one thing of them: to keep living alongside the pain, with the same strength and purpose with which he lived his own life.
Maj. Eyal Avnion, of blessed memory, Armored Corps, fell on July 1, 2024. He was 25.
May his memory be a blessing.
Major
Eyal Avnion