Eran Aloni

Eran was born in Be’er Sheva, but spent his adolescence and the formative years of his life in the city of Ofakim, where he was educated and received the set of values that shaped who he became. Eran loved every person as a person and always gave others the benefit of the doubt. People fell in love with him immediately because it did not matter to him where someone came from, what their opinions were, or where they stood on the gender or political spectrum. What mattered to Eran was only whether you were a person whose heart was in the right place.
During his youth Eran volunteered in a number of projects and initiatives out of a desire to lead change and give of himself to those around him. He volunteered with the veterinary service in Ofakim and with the SaCHI organization (food donations for people in need).
One of the things he loved most was hiking across the country and getting to know it on foot. He especially loved the Israel National Trail, which he hiked several times a year through his school as well as through the “Leha’ez” association. The Israel National Trail and love of the land were an inseparable part of Eran from the day he took his first step on the trail until his very last moments. Over the years Eran took an active part in promoting the Israel National Trail project at his school and beyond. He went from being a student who hiked the trail to planning and leading trails for younger grades. In one of his letters Eran made a wish related to the Israel National Trail project: “The Israel National Trail and excellence in service are programs that have become a meaningful part of my life. I feel so enriched and empowered, and I hope every student in the country will have the opportunity to experience something like this.”
Eran had many goals he set for himself for the future, and one of them was to be a fighter and a commander in the Golani Brigade. In one of his letters to his mentor from the “Leha’ez” association, he wrote: “I know one thing about myself — I was meant to do something meaningful in this life, in this land. Something that will bring about change, but change that comes from a quiet place.”
The path toward command in the Golani Brigade was filled with hard work and determination. Eran wanted to arrive at the army as prepared as he could be, physically and mentally. He also shared in his letters: “I decided I am going to change and empower myself so that I can take part in shaping Israeli society,” and “We need to be an example and a role model wherever we go.” Eran took part in a combat fitness project that he prepared for, and was accepted to the “Re’ut” mechina, a six-month pre-military preparatory program of the kibbutz movement.
In Eran’s youth there were leadership figures and mentors who shaped him: the head of the pre-military mechina, his mentor from the “Leha’ez” association, his homeroom teacher Shira, and Ali Hamoud, a Shelah instructor who accompanied him on the Israel National Trail.
After years of physical and mental preparation and completing the mechina, Eran enlisted in Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade. A few months into his training, Eran asked to attend a combat medic course out of a deep understanding of how important the role is. After completing the medic course he returned to his platoon to finish his training, at a time when the war was already underway and after he had gone through a family upheaval on October 7, when his father was wounded.
On 26.10.23 Eran and his company comrades completed their beret march, and already on 29.10.23 a small team from his company entered combat inside Gaza. After about three and a half weeks of fighting in the Strip, most of the force that was with Eran rotated out for rest, but Eran chose not to rotate out, out of a sense of mission and responsibility as a highly valued medic in the platoon.
On 12.12.23 Eran, together with a force from the company, carried out a mission in the Shejaiya neighborhood, during which they had to clear houses suspected of containing terrorists and hostages. At the beginning of the incident, Liel Hayo of blessed memory, commander of the company’s forward platoon, entered a building the force needed to clear. On the initial entry Liel encountered terrorists and was apparently killed on the spot. Eran, who was in the rear element, received the situation report and ran alone into the building under fire to try to treat Liel. When Eran realized that Liel had been killed, he left the building, reported it to the force, and then returned again to the building in order to protect Liel’s body from being taken. On Eran’s second entry into the building he was wounded by terrorist fire, and while wounded he continued to direct fire toward the terrorists. Eran was killed, apparently by the explosion of an explosive device, in an incident in which nine fighters and officers were killed: Colonel Yitzhak Ben Bast, Lieutenant Colonel Tomer Greenberg, Major Moshe Avraham Bar On, Major Ben Sheli, Major Roi Madlasi, Captain Liel Hayo, Master Sergeant Rom Hecht, Sergeant Ahiya Deskal, and Sergeant Eran Aloni. Heroes of Israel — may their memory be a blessing.
The circumstances of Eran’s death can testify more perfectly than any description to who Eran was, to the way he lived, and to the values he held and wanted to pass on to the next generation.