Farewell to heroic fighter Ofek Barhana: ‘He always sought to guide people toward good and unconditional love’
In every home there is the child who is the center of everything, the one around whom the laughter, songs and sense of security revolve. For the Barhana family, that light was Staff Sgt. Ofek Barhana, a fighter in the Givati Brigade who fell on the 6th of Sivan 5785 (June 2, 2025) during operational activity. He was only 20 years old. Ofek was not only a brave soldier; he was a caring brother, a devoted son and a natural leader who drew everyone around him with his smile and humility.
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The boy who sang songs on the way home from kindergarten
The earliest memories of his sister, Lian, begin with the simple moments of everyday life filled with love. “Ofek was special, really… he was an amazing kid,” his father, Memo, said. Lian recalls how Ofek, despite the age gap between them, was an inseparable part of her world. “There’s a four-year difference between us. He used to pick me up from kindergarten a lot… he would come and sing songs to me the whole way home.” Even as he grew older and became a teenager busy with basketball, family always came first. “I remember he would come back from basketball exhausted, with his friends,” Lian said, “and he would still play with me… mostly I remember us laughing, them joking around.”
Behind that playfulness was an unusual emotional depth. “With all the jokes and everything, he always knew how to be serious and mature and understand situations.”
Quiet acts of kindness: The protector of the vulnerable
Only after his death did stories begin to emerge about Ofek’s kindness, things he had done without telling anyone. His father, Memo, shared a moving story he heard from one of Ofek’s classmates. “She told me that throughout elementary school she would have epileptic seizures and was afraid to walk home alone. Ofek would walk her home, sit with her for hours until her parents came back from work, every single day. We thought he was just hanging out in the street, we didn’t know what he was doing. Now it turns out he was helping his friends. That’s what was special about him, the help he gave others.” His high emotional intelligence allowed him to sense others even before they spoke. “He could tell if someone had been hurt and would take it hard,” his sister, Elin, said. “He always tried to guide things toward good and unconditional love. He was an incredible person, the best kind of crazy.”
A leader in a purple beret
His enlistment in the Givati Brigade in August 2023 was a moment of great pride. “He was really excited on the day he enlisted,” his sister recalled. “When he came back from basic training he walked into the room and said, ‘Wow, look how amazing this is.’” Only two months later, the war known as “Swords of Iron” broke out, and Ofek went from a young recruit to a soldier in the midst of a campaign.
During the war, his maturity deepened even further. “He changed so much from high school to the army,” his sister said. “During the war he came home on leave and went out to distribute meals to soldiers. He was a soldier himself, and he only had leave.” His father added that even during the most difficult moments, Ofek always reassured his family. “Every time I asked him how he was, he would say, ‘Dad, don’t worry,’” Memo said. “He was always worried about his sisters.”
A week before he was killed, Ofek went to his school to collect his diploma. His meeting with his homeroom teacher captured his character. “He simply walked in and hugged her,” his sister said. “She told all her students about who Ofek was. A loss.”
The final Shavuot weekend
The bitter news arrived during the Shavuot holiday. Only hours earlier, father and son had spoken. “I talked to him in the morning and told him, ‘Take care of yourself,’” Memo recalled in pain. “He answered, ‘Don’t worry, Dad. Take care of my sisters and don’t worry.’” The knock on the door came that afternoon. At first a man in civilian clothes arrived, and then the official messengers followed. “My dad opened the door and started screaming. It turned out he had spoken to him just a few hours earlier,” his sister said, describing the moment everything shattered. “For hours we just sat there and nobody spoke. Everyone stared somewhere else and couldn’t understand what was happening.”
‘Everything is dim without him’
The void Ofek left in the Barhana family home is impossible to grasp. “I feel like the Friday before was a happy Friday, with songs and everyone enjoying themselves and laughing,” his sister said. “And the Friday after that, it feels like everything is dim. No matter how many songs you play, how loud you turn them up… the days feel darker to me.”
The longing centers on the simple moments of togetherness that will never return. “What I miss most is that moment when all of us are together, all the siblings, sitting at the Friday dinner table and teasing each other and laughing,” she said. “It feels like something is missing, that it isn’t whole anymore.”
Ofek Barhana fell while defending the country he loved so much. “He knew how important it was,” his family said. “That is what comforts us, remembering that the fighters always wanted the people of Israel to remain united, and that we should always remember to stay united.”
May his memory be a blessing.
Staff Sergeant
Ofek Barhana