Left a promising soccer career to enlist in the IDF, died a hero fighting terrorists
When Sgt. First Class Amir Fisher began to walk, his steps were neither hesitant nor slow. While most children cautiously test their first steps, Amir did not hesitate, he began to run. “Amir started walking, actually, he didn’t start walking, he started running, at 11 months old. And it was very hard to stop him,” his father, Sharon, recalled.
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The son of Sigal and Sharon and brother to Or, he was born on September 14, 2001, in Ness Ziona. On October 7, Amir went out bravely into the field in Kfar Aza and succeeded in striking terrorists at the entrance to the kibbutz. He was killed in a terrorist ambush while clearing homes.
Amir’s first love was soccer, a game in which he excelled. When he was 6, his father received a job offer in Romania. The family moved, and Amir attended an American school. Later, his father received another offer and they moved to Ghana. Throughout his early years, Amir never stopped training. With speed and determination, he became a sought-after player. “Amir developed himself tremendously in soccer,” Sharon said. “Between 10th and 11th grade, he went to a month-long soccer camp in the United States, at the IMG Academy in Florida. When he returned home, we started getting calls, ‘We want him with us, we want to develop him in soccer.’” Amir decided to challenge himself and tried out for teams across Europe. “He traveled to Spain for tryouts, to England,” his father recalled. “We went with him to the Czech Republic for tryouts and stayed there 10 days. A week later, we got a call, he was accepted. On June 1 he had his 12th-grade prom in Ghana. On June 2 he was on a plane to the Czech Republic.” He played there for nearly 10 months. Amir played actively for teams in Ghana and dreamed of becoming a professional. With the help of an agent, he reached Prague, where he played in the youth team of Bohemians Prague for 10 months and was on the verge of signing with a Czech league team.
Then he chose to put his soccer dream aside to fulfill another: enlisting in the IDF. “In February, he came to us in Ghana and said, ‘What would you say if I want to enlist?’” Sharon recalled. “Amir said, ‘I always thought that to be Israeli, this is what I need to do, enlist in the army.’ It was a decision he made with himself. Like with soccer, it was impossible to stop him.”
During a semester break in Israel, he attended a house party where he shared stories of his life abroad. Lior Schein, who was also there, listened in disbelief, she, too, had lived in Romania. “I heard ‘Romania’ and a light bulb went on,” Lior said with a smile. “I asked, ‘Which Romania? I lived there too. The Schein family, maybe you know us?’ He said he’d heard the name but didn’t remember. He asked his mother, and she said, ‘Of course!’ I asked my sister, and she texted me, ‘Lior, don’t believe every guy who hits on you at a party.’” That was how their love story began. Despite his physical strength, Lior said Amir was gentle. “He always knew how to show how much he loved,” she said. “Even though he was a fighter, big and strong, he had a very soft heart and was sensitive.”
‘A huge friendship, with great love and faith’
In late February 2020, Amir returned to Israel as part of the Tzabar program of the Scouts movement. With his group, he completed the stages toward enlistment, initial processing, Hebrew studies and preparatory training. He was assigned to Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, near the Gaza border. The same determination that characterized his love of soccer guided his military service. He set goals and reached them. “In December 2020, Amir enlisted in the Shaldag unit,” his father said. “After a year and two months, during one navigation exercise, Amir fainted and was dismissed from Shaldag. He returned to the induction base and said, ‘I only want Duvdevan.’”
A team member, identified as S., said he would never forget the day Amir joined them. “We got a message from the commander that a new fighter was coming,” he said. “We were pleased, for us, Shaldag meant another guy who could carry a lot of gear,” he laughed. “He didn’t have to do the final course, but he insisted.” Amir quickly became close with everyone on Team 40 and earned the nickname “Fish.” S. described their bond as “a huge friendship, with great love and faith, something very real and beautiful.” Another teammate, A., recalled the difficult week Amir joined them. “He came in the toughest week,” A. said. “He took on a lot and smiled the whole time. That’s how I met Amir. That’s how he entered our team and our hearts.”
His time in the unit was the happiest of his life. His teammates were like brothers. He loved his role and saw the unit as the center of his life. He refused benefits available to lone soldiers, including extended leave, and chose to continue serving as a career combat soldier. “The first Saturday he came home, he told us, ‘If in Shaldag I had friends, here I have brothers,’” his father said.
‘He is in my heart’
Everything changed on October 7. Amir had remained on base with his team that Sabbath. The commander called to say there was likely a terrorist infiltration. Lior recalled their final conversation. “He called at 8 a.m. and said, ‘I can’t talk, we have to gear up,’ and he told me, ‘I love you,’ and hung up. I told him, ‘I love you, take care of yourself,’ and we hung up. That was our last conversation.” Amir and his commander went house to house in Gaza-area communities to inform residents that the army was present and to ask them to remain in safe rooms. Amir was killed in a terrorist ambush from two sides.
His father said he is proud of Amir’s devotion. “I am very proud of what he chose to do, that he gave up a soccer career, that he didn’t have to enlist at all. We always say that if Amir had known that this is how he would fall, he probably would have done it again.” His friends miss his advice, his patience and his perspective. “What I miss most is consulting with him,” A. said. “Many times before I do something, I ask myself what he would say. How he would do it. I loved getting advice from him.” Lior said his absence does not mean he is gone. “The fact that he was killed doesn’t mean he disappeared,” she said. “He is in my head, he is in my heart. We think about him every day and talk about him every day. My closeness with his family won’t change. I love the connection that was created and the continuity we give him even when he is not physically here.” A. and his friends are engaged in constant commemoration. “It’s very important to me to memorialize Amir,” he said. “Whenever I can, I put everything aside. It gives me even more energy and drive to continue.”
Following his death, his parents left Ghana and returned to live permanently in Israel. Together with friends and family, they work to commemorate him in many ways and to create traditions to preserve and remember his heroism. “Since October 7 we have held many memorial activities,” Sharon said. “We organize an annual soccer tournament on the same field where Amir used to play on weekends when he came home. We commemorate him in every way,
through a film made in his memory and lectures in schools and preparatory academies that tell Amir’s story and his heroism. We are committed to this so that many people will remember Amir, know him and learn who he was.”
On Sept. 13, 2024, a day before what would have been his 23rd birthday, a memorial soccer tournament was held at the Ra’anana Sportek field. Hundreds of friends, soldiers and family members attended. Fourteen teams took part, wearing jerseys with the number 10 and the name FISHER. The family and friends plan to make the tournament an annual tradition on his birthday.
In addition to lectures and events, the family partnered with the clothing company Terminal X to create a collection of shirts printed with Amir’s tattoos. He had six tattoos symbolizing his closeness to family and his life. Designed in collaboration with family and friends, the shirts serve as a symbol of his memory and convey messages of love and brotherhood.
Stickers bearing phrases that represent him are posted by friends in public spaces in Israel and around the world. They read: “Fly as far as you can”; “Dance as if the world is singing for you”; “You will always be king of the world, always with the most perfect smile.”
May his memory be a blessing.
Sergeant First Class
Amir Fisher OBM