Sergeant Roni Eshel

Daughter of Sharon and Eyal
Sister of Yael and Alon
Granddaughter of grandfather Itzik and grandfather Jackie, and grandmother Lydia and Grandmother Zehava

Roni was born into a loving family and from the first moment she enjoyed the special status of the eldest daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter.

The South Sharon Regional Council published Roni's summarized life story as follows:
"Born and raised in the village of Tzur Yitzhak, fell while performing her duty in a battle against Hamas terrorists at the Nahal Oz base on October 7, 2023, 19 years old in her fall.
Roni served as a field observer in the 414th Battalion, Border Protection Corps.
Roni is the daughter of Sharon and Eyal, sister to Yael and Alon. Graduated from Yarkon School.
Roni was born in Tel Aviv. In the fourth grade, she moved with her family to Tzur Yitzhak and immediately found her place.
A beautiful girl with big smiling almond eyes. She was well liked among her friends, with great compassion for people and animals and always assisted others.

'Ronky Punky' they called her at home. A funny girl, who liked to joke around, with whom there was never a dull moment. Wherever she went, she spread light.
Even as a teenager she was mature and self-confident. A dominant at home, enforcing order between the brothers when they fought, and the only one who knew how to talk to them and pamper them and in her own way shaped their character and behavior.

Roni loved children very much, enjoyed their company and knew how to fascinate and interest them and tell stories. She was renowned through Tzur Yitzhak as the favorite babysitter. During the period when Roni's fate was still unclear, many families whose children Roni looked after came to embrace and support the family.

Roni enlisted for military service in August, one of the first among her friends. She looked forward to experiencing a meaningful service at a closed base. She saw her role as a field observer as crucial and one that requires responsibility and performed it with great dedication. She loved her friends at the base and was connected to them in a unique way. They created a strong group in which everyone cared for each other, and they all called Roni 'the heart of the operations room'.

Her friends say that Roni is the funniest girl in the world with whom there is never a dull moment. You can tell her anything and she will make it okay and will always be there for you. If you've entered her heart, you'll just know it and as soon as you're there, she'll give you everything.

Her mother says that Roni had the loudest laugh, biggest smile and that when she was happy, you couldn't miss it.
Roni is a homely child. her source of strength and power has always been her home and family. She loved to drive and listen to the sounds of Israeli songs by Israeli rapper Tuna, and Israeli singers Idan Amedi and Ran Danker and they, who heard about her love for them, came to sing for the family and comfort them.

Her mother Sharon said: 'I know that Roni is with us every day. I talk to her because she is here with us, and we will keep following the path she loved.'

A part of a poem written by Yael Naor ben Asher in Roni's memory:
'Roni is beautiful, her eyes speak
and say everything, in the language of glances,
revealing her beauty quietly, without any need for words.
They say you are proud of your madness,
Sometimes they tell of disappointment,
they can tell when you are beaming, when you have found reasons for hope.'"

Roni's personal story did not end with her fall. Beyond the extensive commemorative activity that is being done in her memory, her family members are involved in Israeli advocacy in the diaspora. Roni's uncle, Elad Levy, participated in a special outreach mission led by the Ministry of Diaspora, in cooperation with the IAC (ISRAEL AMERICAN COUNCIL) organization and with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to academic institutions on USA's East Coas. The purpose of the delegation was to raise awareness and echo and reveal the harsh reality in Israel since the October 7 2023 Sabbath. The delegation focused on visits to the American Academy, which has been swept by a wave of anti-Semitism.

"Roni enlisted in the IDF on August 8, 2022, about two and a half weeks after her high school graduation party. She served in the Border Protection Corps as a field observer and was stationed at the Nahal Oz outpost. Roni's father Eyal told in an interview with "Davar" newspaper that she loved her role and flourished in the army: "The team she served in was excellent and her teammates developed a special atmosphere in there, there was an extraordinary friendship between them."

When the terrorists' attack on the Nahal Oz outpost began on October 7, 2023, Roni was on duty at the field observers' operations room and saw with her own eyes the terrorists' infiltration into the outpost.

Channel 12 published the radio recordings in which she reported on the attack. She delivered the reports in sequence, one after the other. First, she reported on a small number of terrorists who infiltrated the outpost and later reported on the mass assault on the fence. The recordings of her voice made waves in the country due to the historical significance of their content. Roni's masterful conduct in these difficult moments became a symbol of her bravery, resourcefulness and composure. and her fellow field observers everywhere.

The following is a transcript of Roni's radio reports at 06:29 on that Black Sabbath:
"Diego stations acknowledge, four people run towards my fence, please confirm. I recognize two armed men running towards the fence, please confirm. Diego station, we have a 'Turkish rider'. acknowledge, one has crossed armed, please confirm. acknowledge a snapshot of the 'Turkish rider' (terrorist infiltration), over, he is probably currently near ***. Snapshot, Diego Station, acknowledge, one more has crossed, acknowledge, there are currently three people in the 'Safari'. please confirm.

"Diego Station, acknowledge a snapshot of the 'Turkish rider, get two people right now on the 'Hourglass' fence (an obstacle on the Gaza Strip border), messing with the fence, please confirm. Diego station, acknowledge, explosion on 'hourglass', acknowledge, people blew up 'hourglass', please confirm. All Diego stations, acknowledge, there is currently a hole in 'hourglass', acknowledge, two people with a bomb blew up the 'hourglass', please confirm. Go ahead. Negative, they are in front of the hole, at the moment they haven't crossed yet.
"Diego station, acknowledge 'full Turkish rider', please confirm. Diego station I repeat, acknowledge 'full Turkish rider', acknowledge, three people crossed 'hourglass', please confirm. Acknowledge, they are armed... in front of the range, Go ahead. acknowledge, 'Hourglass' was blown up, right now three people are on 'Burma', they are armed, please confirm ".

During Roni's hardest shift of all, she managed to text with her mother Sharon at 09:27 in the morning. In "Israel Today" newspaper, the last correspondence between them was published: Roni wrote to Sharon that she was fine, that she was in the operations room and that there was no reception there, so she asked not to worry about her. Sharon wrote to her "I love you" and Roni replied: "Mom I'm fine don't worry about me. I love you too" with four heart emojies. Sharon wrote to her in response to take care of herself, but Roni no longer replied to this message. From that moment the family members did not know what happened to her for about a month during which she was considered missing.

Roni's funeral took place only about a month after the terrorist attack after her body was identified and it became clear that she was murdered in the terrorist attack. The operations room in which she was operating from, was set on fire by the murderous terrorists.

Residents of Kfar Saba and Tzur Yitzhak accompanied Roni's funeral with a display of flags in her honor.

From a young age, Roni demonstrated a charismatic personality. Her uncle described her character in his eulogy at her funeral: he said that Roni became the head of the house, the one who managed everyone, she protected her brothers, reprimanded them when necessary, and cared for and helped those who needed it. She enforced law and order because she was an uncompromising fighter for justice, he said that she had a witty sense of humor that came naturally and that she would pull "funny pranks" on her family.
Roni loved children and especially her nephews, Yoav and Aviv, and she used to spoil them from the moment they were born. She also had compassion for animals.

Roni was a gifted cook and baker. She especially loved to cook Asian couisine in a wok and was a sushi expert. One of her flagship dishes was pasta with sausages and charred onions that she used to make for her friends at the operations room.

Channel 12's "Good Evening with Guy Pines" lifestyle program aired an article about Roni's family's initiative to commemorate her birthday with her favorite recipes and turn them into a book. The family recruited Chef Haim Cohen for the task. He prepared together with Roni's mother in the family kitchen the ""Roni sandwich"" which she used to make every Saturday morning when she was home on leave from the army. Watch the story here.

The "Cafe Greg" learned about the sandwich story that was published on social networks and decided to include the recipe in the network's new menu. The sandwich was be served as one of the specials from March 17, 2024 to May 30, 2024 in all the chain's branches.

The Yarkon School where Roni attended posted the recipe for the sandwich on Instagram: it consists of a thick slice of challah, 9% cream cheese, tomato, avocado, egg, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and ground pepper.

Preparation instructions:
Spread a layer of cheese, slice the tomato into thin slices and place on the bread.
Slice the avocado, place on the challah and sprinkle with lemon juice and a little salt.
In the meantime, fry a sunny side up egg in a pan with butter.
Assemble the sandwich: egg on top of the avocado, a little salt and ground pepper and serve hot.

Watch how to make the sandwich on the following Tik-Tok video.

Roni adored Taylor Swift. During the month she was missing, an official appeal was made to the singer in a post from the State of Israel's "X" account, aimed to raise international awareness of Roni's absence and recruiting Swift to campaign for her.

"Israel Hayom" published an article on the subject on April 19, 2024. The article also reported that Israel's X account shared information about the bracelet project of Taylor Swift's fans that they wore at the screenings of the new film in Israel documenting Swift's last concert tour.

Roni was a fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball team. Hundreds of the team's fans came to her funeral to pay their last respects.

Below are some words Roni's mother said at the memorial service at the 30th day ceremony at the cemetery:

"We call this day we are here for today, the 30th.
But I haven't seen you or heard from you for two months and five days. I don't know where you are, I don't know if you're happy or sad, if you're alone or being watched over, I don't know where you are.
You disappeared from me in an instant, without a warning, without saying goodbye to me.
You wrote me that I shouldn't worry about you and that you were fine.
But Ronki, that is my only role in this world, to worry about you, Yael, Alon and Dad.
And now you are gone, and I still worry about you, I don't know where you are.
I feel like shouting from the top of my lungs that it's not fair, it's not fair, why you, why did they take you from me. But there is no one to listen.
We have always had 6 happy months a year: the dates of our birthday and our anniversary and now we have another month added but it is not a happy month, it is a month of evil, of great sadness and of mourning.
The Tishrei (Hebrew first month) holidays that I always loved so much will become hated and Simchat Torah will become my bitter enemy, because they took you from me.
It's been such a hard month my Ronky, so much sadness, tears, anger and heartbreak. A part of my heart is buried here with you today.
I still don't understand that you won't come back to me, part of me hopes it's a mistake, a mix up, and you're actually there in Gaza taken hostage and soon you'll come home. Another part of me understands that you are not here, and you will not come back, and every time this realization penetrates me more, I also collapse further, I miss you to the point of pain and cannot bear this immense sadness and pain.
I talk to you almost every day in your room in the hope that you are present there and hear everything I tell you, just give me some kind of sign, please.
There is so much I have to tell you but I will save it for our private conversations.
On days that are really hard for me, I read the beautiful and touching greeting you wrote me on my last birthday, just a month before you left. You moved me then and it continues to move me every time I read what you wished for me and gave me.
Ronky, we had the great privilege of loving you for 19 years and 7 months, it's not enough at all, it's too short, but you were ours and we laughed and were happy, we had fun and loved, we got angry and annoyed, we hugged and kissed and said always and all the time 'I love you'.
These were my last words to you and yours to me, because we had a great love, and we all had a great privilege to love you and for you to love us.
My Roni, my beloved girl, I miss you so much, I miss hugging you, kissing you, smelling you, I miss my girl, my beloved.
Come to me in a dream and tell me you're fine, give me one of your big smiles and rolling laugh.
I love you so much."

Roni's family opened a page in her memory on Instagram: remember.ronieshel.

"Maariv" newspaper reported on March 31, 2024 about the annual women's conference of the "Jerusalem Post" held at the Google offices in Tel Aviv with the participation of female entrepreneurs, startups, senior managers and leading women from all over the country who celebrated female power, and shared knowledge, experience and inspiration. During the evening, a medal of valor was awarded to Eyal, Roni's father, following the recordings that were revealed in which she calmly and professionally reported that she recognized the Hamas terrorists approaching the sector under her responsibility.

The late sergeant Eden Alon Levy was killed in the Iron Swords War and, like Roni, was a Yarkon School graduate. In memory of Eden and Roni, on April 8, 2024, the school held a meeting with lieutenant colonel Nira Shefak to mark six months to the Iron Swords War as a sign of female heroism.

On January 29, 2024, YNET published an article about creating art in the shadow of war and the recruitment of art for the sake of commemorating the fallen in the Iron Swords War. The article featured a portrait of Roni drawn by the artist Yaarit Bukant. Bukant's works are usually associated with colorful and optimistic pop art culture, mainly of celebrities. In Roni's commemorative painting, her image is surrounded by a yellow circle. Bukant explained that the yellow symbolizes the protest calling for the hostages' return as well as the rays of light that will illuminate and guide our way. 'They are our sun,' she said.