For eight months, 64-year-old Sinai Eliyahu waited for the moment when his neighbor and relative, Shlomi Ziv, who was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova party compound in Re'im, would return. He hoped that in their conversation, Shlomi could shed some light on the last moments of his son Aviv's life. Aviv was the security manager at the party and was killed while saving thousands of partygoers by preventing them from fleeing toward the swarms of terrorists coming from the Gaza Strip.
As Saturday came to a close, he spoke with Ziv, who heard for the first time about the death of his friend at the party they both worked at, and told him about their last conversation. "At 07:53, Aviv spoke with my wife Eti and tried to reassure her that everything was fine. In the last footage we received, you can see Aviv fighting the terrorists until the last bullet and the last drop of his blood at 08:11, then he gets hit by two RPG missiles and is killed. Between those minutes, we didn't know what happened," Eliyahu described.
When Ziv made a video call from Sheba Medical Center, the two completed the puzzle. "Shlomi told us that at 08:05, he called Aviv and said he was coming down to help him, but Aviv insisted he should not come down to the road from the Nova compound because he would not be able to help in the fight against the terrorists as he had no weapon - and asked him to run to the other side. Even in the last moments of his life, when he knew he would probably not survive this battle, he tried to save as many people as possible," Eliyahu explained.
Later that morning, hundreds of terrorists would arrive at the party compound, strewn with the bodies of the partygoers, and commit acts of sodomy and severe violence. 44 of them would be kidnapped to Gaza, including Ziv, who did not know until his release from captivity that Aviv, a relative of his wife Miran, had been killed that morning. Aviv's younger brother, Yanai, who was also with them, survived. Ziv and his wife live in the community of Elkosh near the Lebanese border, near Aviv, who left behind two children, and they had a special bond.
Throughout Elkosh and the surrounding communities, Eliyahu is known as one of the veteran police officers of Ma'alot, who served as a licensing and security officer. He has now decided, following the murder of his son Aviv, to retire from the police after 42 years of service and devote himself to raising his grandchildren, 8-year-old Adi and two-year-old Nevo. "I gave Aviv these values of giving as much as possible to others and protecting them, and in the moment of truth, he gave his life and saved thousands by keeping them away from the terrorists and staying behind to fight," Eliyahu said with pain, trying to hold back his tears. "I have no choice but to bear the cost and retire now from the police and devote myself to raising the grandchildren my son left behind."
At the Ma'alot-Tarshiha police station where Eliyahu serves, there isn't an officer who didn't know Aviv, who was an integral part of the station's life. "Aviv was connected to the officers more than a bond of brothers. He loved the police so much, and everyone highly respected him as a security manager," Eliyahu said. "I always told him that a police officer role would suit him, but he loved his job in security and didn't want to leave. In the end, he fell as a police officer would. He fought like all the officers there, no less, and was killed alongside them."
Eliyahu was supposed to retire a decade ago, but due to his significant role and the great appreciation he received, his colleagues at the station managed to postpone his retirement repeatedly. Last year, when the station commander, Chief Superintendent Galit Vinograd, asked him to sign an extension of his service, his son was always part of the pressure on the devoted father to stay.
Now, with his son's death, no one could keep Eliyahu in the police force. "There aren't many officers at that age who are fought over to stay in the system," Chief Superintendent Vinograd said with appreciation. Just a few months ago, Eliyahu received a commendation for his service. "I love him and his wife Eti deeply, and understand that they now face a new challenge for Aviv, who was like a son at the station and worked alongside us as a security manager at events. Every commander wants an officer like Sinai, and it is no surprise that such a hero son came from such a father and paid with his life to save many."