| Urim
Kibbutz Urim is located in the northwestern Negev about 9 kilometers west of Ofakim and is under the jurisdiction of the Eshkol Regional Council. Urim was founded after sunset following the fast of Yom Kippur 1946 as part of a clandestine operation that established eleven points of Jewish settlement in the Negev. The founders mainly included young Jews from Bulgaria and members of the Gordonia and Maccabi Hatzair youth movements. The kibbutz was originally situated adjacent to Mitzpe Gvulot and was relocated to its current location during Israel's War of Independence.
At first Urim was affiliated with the Hever HaKvutzot movement. It subsequently joined the Ihud HaKvutzot VeHaKibbutzim and is now affiliated with the United Kibbutz Movement (Takam). Approximately 50 families live in the kibbutz and maintain a secular lifestyle. The bases of the 8200 Intelligence Corps, the 414 Field Intelligence Battalion and the Southern District of the Home Front Command are located near the kibbutz.
Events of October 7
On the morning of October 7, ten terrorists from the Hamas Nukhba Force infiltrated the Home Front Command base with the intention of capturing it and murdering and abducting soldiers. At that time, 14 male and female soldiers were stationed at the base.
The soldiers split up between the fortified structures (migunot) and the command center. The terrorists stormed the command center and slaughtered everyone there. Two injured female soldiers pretended to be dead. They were later rescued by two members of the General Staff Negotiation Unit who came to the Urim base and were directed to the command center by the base commander. These two soldiers broke into the command center and neutralized the remaining terrorist. Five male and female soldiers who were sheltering in the migunot were saved. Two female soldiers were shot on their way from the migunot to the command center, and five of the seven female soldiers in the command center were murdered.
When solders from Battalion 414 stationed at the nearby base heard gunfire from rifles and Kalashnikovs, they launched a drone. Based on intelligence from the drone they realized that the Home Front Command base was under attack. Only a simple iron fence separated them from the Home Front Command base. The Deputy Company Commander decided to breach the fence and the soldiers entered the nearby base. A gun battle broke out between the reconnaissance soldiers and the terrorists. Eight IDF soldiers were killed during this battle, seven from the Home Front Command and one from Battalion 414, and many were wounded.
When the attack began on Saturday morning, Corporal Ophir Davidian, a logistics officer in the Homefront Command, sent a message on her family's WhatsApp group telling her parents and her sisters to go to the security room and lock the doors. At the time she was on guard duty at the Urim base.
While Ophir attempted to stave off the attack in the south, her father Assaf set out from his home on Moshav Patish to rescue wounded partygoers from the Nova music festival. On his way he picked up dozens of young people who were hiding in the area and drove them to safety, while endangering his own life under constant shooting. The family attempted to discover what happened to Ophir, but she did not answer their messages. Only on Sunday morning did the full extent of the loss become clear.
After fighting and killing a terrorist, Ophir was shot and killed in battle. She was the eldest daughter in the Davidian family, sister to Hadar, Omer, Or and Lir.
"She was a source of light."
Sergeant Adi Groman, a fighter with the Unit 414 of the Border Defense Corps, fell on October 7 in the battle to defend the Urim base. When she and her commanders realized that terrorists had infiltrated the neighboring base where there were no combat soldiers, Adi volunteered to join the rescue forces. The battle lasted more than 90 minutes, during which the team managed to neutralize a number of terrorists. Adi sustained fatal gunshot wounds after a terrorist tossed grenades at the defenders and fired bursts of gunshots. She died of her wounds in the hospital.
Adi, who was only 20 years old, insisted on going out to battle to save lives. She loved the army and her comrades in the unit and felt she was in the right place. According to her friends, "She was a source of light and did not stop, even when she was afraid."
Three months after Adi fell in battle, her family found a note she had written: "I am here because I want to defend my country to the best of my ability and to prove myself to all those who said I am not capable of being a fighter."
Stories of Heroism
Flag in honor of Generous Donors from Israel and Overseas
Flag raising ceremony | January 30, 2024
Photography: Guy Yechiely
