Yuval Sharabi, the daughter of Yosef Sharabi, who was abducted from Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7 and later killed in an Israeli Air Force strike in Gaza, has completed the IDF’s combat instructors course and will soon begin training her first soldiers. Her path to enlistment was marked by profound trauma, including surviving 12 hours in a burning house in Be'eri during the Hamas attack, the abduction and later release of her partner, Ofir Engel, and the abduction and release of her uncle, Eli Sharabi.
At first, Sharabi said she could not bring herself to join the army. She explained that after her father’s death, caused by an attack connected to the IDF strike, she felt she had “no trust” and could not imagine serving in the same system. Her mother, Nira Sharabi, supported that hesitation. But during her national service year, conversations with others helped her conclude that her father was killed by Hamas, which had kidnapped him, and that this realization reduced her anger. She still asks why it happened, but says staying stuck on that question would prevent her from moving forward.
Sharabi had originally dreamed of becoming a naval officer, but chose an instructing role because she wanted a meaningful, active position and because teaching had long been part of her life in the kibbutz, youth movement, and bar mitzvah programs. She was joined in the course by Michal Most, whose brother, Staff Sgt. Amit Most, was killed on October 7 while evacuating wounded soldiers under fire at Sufa outpost. Their commander, Capt. Carmel Madr, who is also a bereaved sister, said she treats the trainees as individuals first and believes the post-October 7 army requires greater sensitivity and humanity.
At the graduation ceremony, Eli Sharabi attended and said he was proud of Yuval, adding that it was sad her father could not see her. The course’s final march was dedicated to Yosef Sharabi, and Yuval said that carrying the flag throughout it felt deeply moving and like something she was doing for him. She was then named the course’s “outstanding trainee” by a unanimous choice of her peers and commanders.
