Tami Peleg Ziv

Eitan Ziv, 74, and Tami Peleg Ziv, 72, were murdered by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7.

The couple were buried on October 18 in the Shfayim Cemetery, although the family has expressed interest in reburying them in the future closer to the home they loved.

The family was already no stranger to loss. In 1973, Tami’s brother, Cpl. Nimrod Greenberg, was killed fighting in the Yom Kippur War — on the eve of Simhat Torah. On October 7, 2004, the day of Simhat Torah, Tami’s daughter, Einat Naor, was murdered in a terror bombing of Israeli vacationers in the Sinai.

Eitan (born Eitan Zeldin) is survived by his daughters, Nili and Na’ama, and Tami is survived by her sons, Assif and Oz, and each had a number of grandchildren.

Eitan’s daughter, Nili Zlotovsky, said that the IDF believes the couple were among the first killed in the kibbutz: “It appears that they surprised them, they got to them first, broke through the window, shot into the room. My father left the safe room, he was there with his weapon, he truly fought, fired at least a magazine. My father was killed with his weapon in his hand.”

Eitan was a well-known tour guide in the Sha’ar Hanegev region, and a former officer in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit. Friends and family said he was deeply knowledgeable in the history of the region, was dedicated to telling the stories of Israel’s fallen and a true believer in sustainability and preserving the land.

In an interview with 103FM radio, Nili revealed that her father served in Sayeret Matkal alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, and was even among those who helped pull him out of the water during an operation in the Suez Canal, although she said she had not heard from the prime minister since her father’s death.

Tami, a native of the nearby Kibbutz Zikim and the child of Holocaust survivors moved to Kfar Aza decades ago and worked for many years in the local grocery shop. Her family said she enjoyed baking and loved animals and was deeply impacted by the loss of both her brother and daughter, but chose to keep living life to the fullest to honor them.

Tami’s son, Oz Laor, told Maariv that he and his mother and brother all met up on Friday, October 6, to visit his sister’s grave.

“We spoke, we joked around, we sat in a cafe in Kibbutz Zikim, we watched the ocean, ate breakfast and were together for an hour and a half,” Oz said. “There was a sense of completion of many things, I know from her friends that she told them she left that conversation very encouraged. That was a small comfort. That was the last time we saw her or spoke to her.”

Oz described her as “a very hugging mom, very maternal and caring, even in the period when we lived in the kibbutz children’s house. When I was in high school, I had a complicated surgery and she never left my side for a moment. Even in later years, when I would visit her with the kids, she always made sure we were treated like kings.”

He said Tami and Eitan loved to “travel the world, they were in Portugal and Morocco not long ago. She was in many classes and workshops, she took advantage of every moment in life, like a true retiree.”

Eitan’s daughter, Nili Zlotovsky, described him as “the dad every girl dreams of having… We are comforted that you and Tami were killed together because otherwise, neither of you would have wanted to go on living without the other. We are comforted that you protected her until the end. In what universe are those the kinds of things bereaved ones are comforted by?”

Nili said that “aside from being a father you were so many other things: a Sayeret Matkal fighter, an officer with an impressive resume in Israel’s wars, a tour guide with an inexhaustible knowledge in endless fields, truly a walking encyclopedia… A love of the country and the homeland flowed in your veins, for every corner of our little nation you had a true story of a legend. You loved the land, its history, its heritage.”

Her father, Nili said, “was born a leader, you led soldiers, students, travelers and many friends. You created meaning for so many people and therefore the loss is deep.”
Source: The Times of Israel