ZIV HAGBI
1994 - October 7, 2023 | Age: 29
“He would always say that any new person he met was first of all a king, unless proven otherwise.”
About Ziv
Ziv Hagbi was born and raised in Kibbutz Gevim and attended Sha’ar HaNegev Regional School.
Those who were close to Ziv remember, first and foremost, how it felt to be around him. He made people feel truly seen, listened to and important. He possessed an immense joy for life, an open heart and a natural generosity. But more than anything, there was a quiet presence about him. He did not seek the spotlight or attention. He simply knew how to make room for the person in front of him.
His friends say that each of them felt as though they were Ziv’s best friend. Beside him, you felt important, accepted and loved. This ability to truly see another person was not reserved only for those closest to him. Ziv noticed people, and whenever someone was in distress or needed help, he simply reached out his hand.
Even as a teenager, it was clear that Ziv could be relied upon. He was the eldest brother, and from a young age displayed extraordinary maturity and sensitivity. During difficult periods in the family’s life, he knew how to be present, take responsibility and give others the feeling that they could lean on him. Even while he was still a child himself, there were moments when it seemed as though he was carrying something larger than himself.
Over the years, he became an anchor within his family. Everyone knew that whenever they needed him, he would be there. He had a sharp sense of humor, an immense joy for life and a quiet confidence. He loved sports, including Hapoel Tel Aviv, playing the guitar, travelling, music festivals and perhaps more than anything, dancing.
The Way He Chose to Live
Learning, service, and the road he chose
After finishing school, Ziv dedicated a year of service to a post-hospitalization residential program for young people at risk. It was a year that gave him a profound sense of meaning and fulfilment.
He then enlisted in the IDF, determined to become a combat soldier and join an elite reconnaissance unit. He served in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Company as the lead Negev machine gunner, a role that required him to move at the front of the force and be among the first to enter. His position also gave him opportunities to practise his Arabic. He believed that even within a reality of conflict, it was still possible to speak to one another.
Those who served beside him remember the combination of strength and humility within him, and his ability to bring laughter and friendship even into difficult and frightening moments.
After completing his military service, Ziv worked for a year at the fishery of Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael, saving money for his long-awaited journey. He then set out alone on a ten-month trip across Asia. He later made his home in Jaffa.
Arabic
Ziv’s love of the Arabic language began during his military service. During the COVID period, that love deepened. While he was not working and could devote his time to studying, he immersed himself in the language. From then onward, it became a significant part of his life.
He was not content merely to learn the language. He wanted to know the people and culture behind it as well. He had Egyptian and Jordanian friends, and their relationships were built around an exchange of language and culture: he learned Arabic from them, with a particular focus on the Egyptian dialect, while they learned Hebrew from him.
Even the interface on his phone was set to Arabic. In October 2023, Ziv was due to begin studying Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations at Tel Aviv University.
His friend Maya Baitner, whom he met through a shared love of Arabic, remembered sitting with him on the beach in Jaffa only two weeks before October 7, laughing and talking about life. She remembered his excitement and curiosity for the language, his wide knowledge, and the way he always knew how to find the word she had forgotten.
October 7
On the evening of October 6, 2023, Ziv and four of his friends, Amit, Nir, Paz and Noam, went to the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im. When they arrived, they set up their gazebo and began to dance.
They danced together until sunrise.
And then came the explosion.
They saw the interceptions in the sky, and in a single moment, everything changed. The friends ran back toward the camping area. Along the way, Ziv disappeared. Nir finished packing up their belongings and went looking for him because Ziv was not answering his phone.
Eventually, he found Ziv sitting beside two young women who were having a panic attack. Ziv had stopped to stay with them, calm them and explain what they needed to do.
When Ziv’s phone battery died, he used one of the women’s phones to send Nir a message, reminding him not to forget his bag. The recording ended with the words: “It will be okay.”
Ziv suggested driving to his family’s home in Gevim and sheltering in the safe room, but the road was blocked. Police directed them south along Route 232. Traffic had come to a standstill, and a military vehicle was blocking the road.
Ziv suggested that they leave the cars and lie down in the open field rather than remain trapped inside the vehicles. They heard gunfire and saw a car being hit. They ran back toward the command post at the entrance to the festival and hid between two yellow containers.
At 7:50 a.m., Ziv called his mother using his friend Paz’s phone. He asked to speak with her partner so that he could obtain information that might help them understand how to escape. He did not tell his mother that he was in danger. He even asked her partner to move away from her so that she would not overhear the conversation. Even then, protecting her from worry remained important to him.
He noticed that she sounded sad and asked whether something had happened to her. By then, they understood that terrorists had entered the communities north of them. They could not escape north or south. Gunfire could be heard behind them, while terrorists began approaching from the wadi to the west.
They were surrounded.
The friends began running under fire. One of them saw Ziv pulling Noam forward when she struggled to keep going. Ziv would not allow her to stop. He pulled her onward and continued running beside her.
They managed to cross a fence and reach a blue Jeep. Some of the group climbed onto its roof, but when they realized that they were exposed and had become one large, visible target, they jumped down.
Ziv continued with Amit and Nir. Later, they attempted to escape in a vehicle passing through the area. When the driver decided to return to the road, they jumped out and hid in the open field.
The group became separated and hid in different places. Nir and Amit knew where Ziv was, but they could not call out to him without exposing their own location.
A short time later, a pickup truck carrying terrorists passed along the nearby road. Approximately five minutes later, they heard car horns from the road, followed by Ziv speaking on the phone, apparently with the security forces. Nir understood that the honking might also have been intended for them and that Ziv may have been trying to gather them together.
From this point onward, the accounts of what happened to Ziv become fragmented. It is known that at some stage he was forced onto a pickup truck and was heard shouting for help. Beyond that, precisely what happened to him remains unclear.
For an entire week, his family and friends did not know what had become of him. His brother Guy searched for him among the hospitals. After a week of uncertainty, his parents received the devastating news.
Ziv is survived by his parents, Reut and Pesach, and his younger brother Guy. He was buried in Gevim on October 16, 2023.
His Spirit
When Ziv’s friends spoke about him, they returned again and again to the same qualities. His kindness was never loud. Neither was his strength.
Ziv was simply there.
His younger brother Guy wrote that anything he could say would only diminish who Ziv truly was. Ziv was always calm, always helping, always present. There are people, Guy wrote, who always know what to say. Ziv always knew what to do. He wanted to hear Ziv say again, “What are you worried about, bro? You’ll figure it out.”
On October 7, those words took on a heartbreaking meaning. When two frightened young women, complete strangers, needed help, Ziv stopped beside them and calmed them. When Noam struggled to continue running under fire, he pulled her forward and would not allow her to stop.
His father, Pesach, remembered a son who loved people and always had a smile on his face. He would always say, “It’ll be OK.” Even after the loss, his father returned to the Nova memorial site to honor Ziv and accompany others who found it hard to come alone.
“They say people don’t remember what you said but what you made them feel. That’s you, my brother. You made everyone feel like they were the best, number one, that you’re with them until the end.” Guy, his brother
Moments & memories
Fragments of a beautiful life, lovingly remembered.
Remembering Ziv
There are many ways to remember Ziv. Through the friends who each felt that they shared a uniquely close bond with him. Through the stories of strangers he encountered along the way and simply chose to help, because Ziv loved helping people. Through the Arabic language that became such a meaningful part of his life.
Through his devotion to and care for his family. Through Poli, the dog he chose at an animal shelter when he was ten years old, who remained part of the family for many years. Through the guitar, his sense of humor and his love of music. Through the journeys, the sea, the sunrises and sunsets, the coffee kit shared with friends and the gatherings that were such an important part of his life.
And through dance. Perhaps there is no more fitting image through which to remember Ziv than the one his friend carries from the final sunrise of his life. Before anyone knew what that morning would become.
As one relative’s eulogy put it: “We will remember you laughing. We will remember you having fun. Don’t stop dancing.”
Ziv was on the dance floor at Nova.
Smiling.
Laughing with his friends.
Dancing wildly.
We will remember Ziv as a person who loved life, who travelled, discovered, rejoiced, gave freely and danced through the world with an extraordinary joy for living.
Entirely himself.
Entirely alive.
May his memory be a blessing.
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