Phyllis Haimovich, founder of the association “He Left Behind a Friend/Partner,” has died at the age of 87. Her funeral is scheduled for Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. at the Nordau cemetery in Kfar Saba. The organization said she spent decades working on behalf of bereaved spouses of fallen IDF and security forces personnel.
Haimovich was born in New York and immigrated to Israel in 1968 with her husband Yitzhak and their eldest son, Danny, after the Six-Day War. She devoted her life to education and public service. Her activism took shape after the death of Lt. Avi Buk in Lebanon in 1997, who had been her youngest daughter Michal’s partner.
According to the organization, Haimovich and her family were shocked to discover that Michal, who had been Avi’s closest companion, was invisible to the system simply because they were not married. In response, she and her daughter, attorney Tamar Haimovich-Richter, founded the group in 1998, arguing that the state, the IDF, the Defense Ministry and society at large had a moral duty to care for a fallen soldier’s loved one.
Since then, the group has supported hundreds of bereaved spouses and helped reshape their place within Israel’s bereavement community. It is recognized by the Defense Ministry as a representative organization and works with the IDF Personnel Directorate’s casualties and families division. After the start of the “Swords of Iron” war, the circle of bereavement widened sharply, and the group has taken in hundreds more partners, offering emotional support and a community.
In 2024, Haimovich received the Bonei Zion Prize from Nefesh B’Nefesh for her pioneering volunteer work. CEO Adv. Adi Alon Sheinberg called her “a trailblazer,” praising her rare mix of determination and sensitivity and saying, “She did not settle for compassion, she turned it into action.” She added that Haimovich left “a huge legacy” and that the group will continue her path.
