Until His Last Bullet

Eden Abergel, 29, lost her husband Eliran on October 7 in Kibbutz Be'eri. She wants the world to know his story and how his impact continuous even after he was killed.

They met in the army. "From the moment I saw him, I felt butterflies," Eden says. "He was charismatic, warm, full of life. Always thinking of others before himself."

He gave her confidence, belief in herself, and unconditional love. They were together nine years, married for two, and desperately wanted to start a family. The IVF treatments were difficult but Eliran never missed an appointment and never let go of her hand. "We were in this together," she says.

Eden and Eliran

A Man Who Cheated Death

Life was busy. Eden worked as a social worker with children who could not live at home and Eliran worked with Matpa, the national special police. Eliran’s work was very dangerous; he confronted terrorists, putting his life at risk countless times and surviving many close calls. “Because I felt God saved me so many times,” he once told Eden, “I want to add the name Chai, life, to my name.”

Every day he wore two necklaces: one with the verse, “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear, for You are with me,” and another that said Chai.

Eliran’s two necklaces

He had planned to change his name officially but wanted to wait until after their anniversary trip to Barcelona. “He knew it would be complicated with the passport and did not want to risk complication with border control.” Their second anniversary was on October 6, 2023. They planned to leave the following week but never got the chance.

October 7th

The morning began like any other at their family home in Tiberias. The phone kept ringing. Eden’s sister, who was staying with them, answered and soon the family understood the horror unfolding in the south. Sirens blared across the country. Eden woke Eliran calmly, knowing the call to join his unit was coming. Eden explained, “I didn't want him to be rushed.” He brushed his teeth, got dressed, and at 7 a.m., received the call. He calmly kissed everyone goodbye with a big smile.

Eliran met his unit in Petach Tikvah and headed south, passing Sderot, Re’im, and other areas already under attack. His unit eliminated terrorists and began receiving desperate calls from Kibbutz Be’eri, where families were trapped in their homes and saferooms with terrorists outside setting their houses on fire. Around 11 a.m., Eden tried calling him. He told her he was in Tel Aviv,

“He was trying to protect me and keep me from worrying.”

By 1 p.m., his unit entered Kibbutz Be’eri. They were nine soldiers and one resident who guided them. An armored vehicle was hit directly, and the second was hit from the side. Eliran was in the second vehicle — he was the driver. He was the only one who survived. He managed to get out of the vehicle while wounded and continued fighting until his last bullet.

Blown up armored vehicle

Even under fire, he continued to fight instead of retreating. He positioned himself outside a family’s safe room, saving them while most of the other families in the neighborhood were killed or kidnapped. When his body was later found, his weapon was still in his hand, and there were no bullets left. “He had fought until his last shot.”

Two Days of Not Knowing

For two days Eden did not know her husband’s fate. She called repeatedly but he did not answer. Finally, Golan Vach of Israel’s Homefront command, answered the phone and gently delivered the devastating news. “He answered Eliran’s phone after I tried calling again and again, when I saw that the WhatsApp messages were starting to show as delivered (two check marks). He was actually the one who found him in the field.”

Eden fainted from the news and was rushed to the hospital.

“The official knock on the door was on the door of my hospital room.”

While there, out of desperation, she asked the army representative to save Eliran’s sperm so she could have a child with him.

The representative promised to inquire about it but returned shortly to inform her that too much time had passed and it would be impossible to do so. Eden felt a second loss, the death of their dreams for a child alongside the loss of her husband.

The Miracle

It turns out, that just days before October 7th, Eden and Eliran had completed one last IVF treatment. Exhausted and broken, she was certain it had failed. But after shiva, her doctor insisted on a test. After all she had many symptoms, she hadn't eaten, she fainted and couldn’t sleep. Eden was sure it was due to the loss.

To her utter shock, the result was positive. “I didn’t know how to feel,” she says. “I was happy, and I was scared. I was afraid the shoe would drop again.”

She kept the pregnancy secret from friends until she began her eighth month.

“It was winter time so I was able to wear heavy coats to hide it.” She gave birth to a boy: Ari Yehuda, the name she and Eliran had chosen together during treatment. “We had a lot of time on our hands during treatment to dream of names together.”

“He’s our miracle. A gift,” she said softly.

Choosing to Live

Living without Eliran is still profoundly difficult. His toothbrush remains next to hers; his towel hangs; his shirt still lies on the bed. Some days, Eden sits on the couch, staring at the door, waiting for him to come home. The loneliness is deepest in the evenings and on holiday weekends.

“At first, I was in survival mode,” she says. “Now I am starting to process. I lost my husband, but God gave me Ari Yehuda. I choose to live my life with faith, like Eliran.”

She survives day to day with Ari Yehuda and the support of family, friends, and organizations like Widows of Warriors who remind her that she is not alone or forgotten.

Over 350 widows emerged from this war, leaving over 1,000 children in need of care. Widows of Warriors believes in the power of resilience. Yonit Rothchild, the organization's director stated, “If the mothers can rise up and find happiness, they are raising an entire generation of children.”

“Every day, every week, every month, someone reaches out for us,” Eden says. “The love and faith keep us going.”

Widows of Warriors, a project of the Israel Alliance, provides personalized support to widows of IDF soldiers and other heroes of Israel who lost their lives on October 7th or during the war that followed. Donations can be made here: https://www.widowsofwarriors.org/widows-of-warriors