From the article at Yediot Aharonot. Translation by Microsoft
All three of them took part in the fighting over the past year. Despite the horrors and the fierce battles in the war, they realized that there is no more important mission in their lives than protecting the lives of resident. It is precisely for this reason that Uriel Herz, Dor Shidlo, and Ido Ofri became the chiefs of security in the border area.
Uriel Herz returned on a flight from the United States two days after October 7 and immediately enlisted in the reserves. Dor Shidlow fell in love with the Gaza envelope and found a home there. Ido Ofri, a member of Kibbutz Kissufim, fights terrorists who tried to enter his home. Following the massacre and the fighting, three reservists decided to become the chiefs of security in the border communities
Uriel Herz, 23 years old, from Beit Rimon, enlisted in the Yahalom army unit in August 2020 and was discharged in March 2023. When the war broke out, Herz was in San Francisco. He had boarded a flight home. It just happened to be on the morning of October 7, at 6:40 a.m.
“I had no idea of anything. There was someone on the plane with WiFi and she started telling me that military bases had been broken into and that a war was starting. I didn't believe her,” he recalls. “Suddenly, after a seven-hour flight, they turned the plane around on us, with the announcement that 'because of the security situation, it is impossible to land in Israel,' and took us back to San Francisco.”
As soon as Herz realized that all his friends had been called up for reserve duty, he became unstoppable about getting back to Israel. “My country was invaded,” “This is home. As far as I'm concerned, in my head, I wanted to get there as quickly as possible. In the end, I found one one-way ticket from El-Al for $1,900 and bought it.
“I landed on October 9 at 1:50 P.M.,” he adds, “As soon as I boarded the flight, I told my parents to organize my equipment and uniforms, and to meet me at the airport. By 3:00 P.M., I was already at base.”
After a period of preparation, Herz joined the fight in Gaza where he served until February: (“This was my first reserve duty,” he says). When he was released from reserve duty, he decided to move to the border area—an idea he had been thinking about while he was on the plane on the way back. “I realized that we need young people to come and rehabilitate and work here. Right now.” He joined the “Weapons Farm” group—a conscription under Order 8 aimed at protecting and rehabilitating the surrounding communities.
“In March, I moved to Nir Am. The kibbutz was neglected and abandoned, and I immediately entered a sequence of work,” he describes, “After a few months I began to manage the group, and I saw that I was functioning as the chief of security without even knowing that I was doing it.”
Now, after five months in the position, he says: “There are amazing people in the kibbutz. I am a significant part of the place. I came with the attitude of giving a year. Now I understand that I'm staying.”
Dor Shidlo also reached the position of Chief of Security following the fighting, and now serves in the position in Moshav Shokeda. Shidlo, 29, originally from the settlement of Ginot Shomron, served in the reserves in Judea and Samaria after October 7.
“I was in Nablus and Jenin, and after we finished my activity I decided that I wanted to continue my reserve duty,” he says, “This is the time when I have to get involved and give of myself.”
In a way that may be perceived as a certain closure, he began his reserve service in the surrounding area. “After a month, I fell in love with the place and the people and started looking for an apartment in the area, while on reserve duty. During one of the shifts, I realized that they were looking for security chiefs because there was a shortage—some had fallen, some had exhausted. I found an apartment in Shokeda and saw that they were also looking for a security chief here—I went for it.”
Shidlo: “We experienced a blow, and we have to give what we can now. At first there were concerns, because in the end it's about disconnecting from the family and it's distance, but in the end it's worth it.”
Shidlow says he feels a sense of mission in this position, which he entered exactly a year after the massacre: “We experienced a blow, and we have to give now what we can. At first there were fears, because in the end it's about disconnecting from the family and it's distance, but in the end it's worth it. A month was enough for me to understand that I wanted to live here.”
Ido Ofri, 23-year-old Chief of Security in Kissufim, went out to fight the terrorists on the morning of the murderous Hamas terror attack. During his military service, he was a brigade liaison officer in the 551st Commando Reserve.
“I was supposed to be released in December,” he says, “On the morning of October 7, I was at home. Four terrorists try to break into my house, and in the end they give up. In the meantime, I get on my gear, get organized and wait for the opportunity to go outside. At 8 a.m., I see that there are terrorists behind my house, go out and start fighting. I hid in the bushes, shot at them, and as I went from place to place so they wouldn't find me. There were about 70 terrorists who massacred the kibbutz.”
At noon, Ofri joined the army and rescued people from their homes during the fighting—including the then-Chief of Security, Roni Safdge, whose home had been invaded by terrorists. He also tells of the late Saar Margulis, who was the chief security officer of the kibbutz for 11 years, and he was the one who found him shot on the steps of Roni's house.
After a long night of hard fighting, he reported to the base on Sunday morning. “They thought I was in Kissufim and they had already taken my position. I arrive sweating, on a vest, dirty with blood, and from there I continue to Gaza for five months.”
Kissufim is still defined as a closed military zone and residents have not yet returned to it.
Ofri: “It's a small kibbutz and there aren't many people who can perform this job. If I want the kibbutz and my family to come back here and have a sense of security, then someone has to take the job. It's closure for me after I fought here.”
Even though the current chief of security at the time was besieged in his home and was almost killed, and his predecessor was killed during combat, Ofri did not hesitate for a second to fill the role himself now. “I understood that it was necessary. It's a small kibbutz and there aren't many people who can perform this job.
“If I want the kibbutz and my family to come back here and have a sense of security, then someone has to take the job. It is closure for me after I fought here.”
This is the man he has grown into; you'll find him about 3:35 in.
© 2025 David R. Herz
