Corporal Naama Boni

Daughter of Yael and Yoav

Sister of Yuval (21 years old) and Yair (16 years old)

Naama was born in Kibbutz Maoz Haim and at the age of one, moved with her family to Afula, the city she grew up and attended school in. She graduated from Ort Oren high school in Afula.
Naama was a beloved and loving family member. her affectionate nickname in her family was "Naamuna". She was full with the spirit of giving which she projected upon everyone around her. She had a sense of humor, a rolling laugh and witty sarcasm.
Naama loved to read books and volunteered at the municipal library during her high school years. She experienced with creative writing in Hebrew and English and poettry, and had a personal diary. One of her songs was even composed. She loved watching movies and would write down quotes from them.
Naama appreciated art and used to visit museums. She also valued antique objects. The walls of her room, the dresser and the personal library are full of decorative objects that she collected over the years in second-hand stores.
One of Naama's main hobbies was music. She loved going to live performances by Israeli artists and used to make "playlists" for her best friends.
Naama celebrated her 19th birthday a week before she was killed during her line of duty in the murderous terrorist attack.

Naama joined the IDF on February 20, 2023. After finishing bootcamp, she was drafted to the Human Resources Corps personal affairs NCOs course. Upon its completion, she was awarded with the "Excellency decoration" certificate of the "Esh" personal affairs Course. During the course, Naama stood out as a potential candidate for officers' training and her commanders marked her for a dedicated track. However, they wanted her to gain some more experience in the field for a few months before she is reassigned.
Upon the course's completion, she was assigned as a personal affairs NCO in the 7th Regular Armored Brigade in the Sa'ar me-Golan formation, in the Oz Battalion known as the "77th Battalion". In her position in the battalion, she took great care of the individual well-being of the soldiers in various areas of personal affairs. Among the issues she dealt with were soldiers experiencing financial difficulties, family related problems, and providing special care for lone soldiers and new immigrants. Naama was dedicated to her job and spent hours working in the special affairs office. At the same time, she saw the importance of maintaining a close relationship with the soldiers, so alongside her current duties, she made sure to go out into the field, get to know the soldiers personally, talk with them and be attentive to their needs. Every time a soldier received a response to his request, she was very satisfied and considered it a great achievement.

On the "Black Sabath" on October 7, 2023, Naama was stationed alone at the "Yiftach" outpost's gate guard post in the Gaza Strip. During the surprise attack by the terrorists, rocket barrages and mortar bombs were launched at the outpost and under the cover of the barrages, the terrorists penetrated the outpost. With astonishing dedication and dedication to duty, Naama never abandoned her post. She recorded the terrorist attack on her mobile phone and instructed soldiers who had taken shelter in a nearby precast shelter to move to the operations room and lock it. and locked it up. In doing so, she saved the lives of many, including the lives of the battalion commander's wife and his two children who were at the base that day.
Naama fell during the terrorists' infiltration to the "Yiftach" outpost she was guarding.

During Naama's "Shivah" mourning period, her friends told exciting stories about her uncanny personality. They described her as the "salt of the earth", possessing strong moral fiber, committed to her goals and her path. Her family described her as a child of kindness, living a life of values and virtue, curious, who gathered positive experiences with herself and her family members and was grateful for everything they did for her.
Naama had many male and female friends with whom she had deep relationships. She made them feel special, listened to them and accommodated them. Naama used to ask her friends during their gatherings to put their mobile phones aside so that they could talk in depth and without interruptions.
There is a lot to learn about Naama's character from a text she wrote in her handwriting on March 2, 2023, answering why she enlisted in the army. It is not clear what the background was for writing the text, were these thoughts she wanted to express to herself in writing? Or was it an exercise that her commanders asked her to prepare as part of her military training? Whatever the reasons for writing this text, it reveals a window into Naama's values and Zionist inner world. Here it is in her own words:
"Why did I enlist?
From a very young age I felt very connected to the land, the country, the customs, the Israeli essence. Thanks to my parents, my extended family, the content and music I consumed, a very strong bond was woven between me and my country, which is expressed in various manners, from inner feelings and emotions to this exciting image of me, physically, wearing the uniform of the Israel Defense Forces.
My parents always showed me: skits by the classic Israeli comedy trio "Hgashash Hachiver", Israeli cult films, took me to trips all over the country from the north to the south, played me Israeli songs from Zohar Argov to Meir Ariel - and all this from a very young age. The connection to "Israeliness" and to my country was built over the years, and as I grew older I knew I would enlist, and as I approached the enlistment itself (after I wasn't accepted to the original positions I aimed for) I realized how much I wanted my service to have a certain meaning, something in the military system related to treatment, and I was given the right to enlist as a personal affairs NCO. In addition to the content and music that connected me to Israeliness, there is also the precarious security situation of our country, which has become the normalcy here. There is not a moment of peace - a small country surrounded by enemies. I will testify for myself that I would never be able to remain indifferent to our situation, this is my country - if not me, there will be no one to do it in my place. Too many people have gone through enough hardships for me to idly sit in my living room and watch 'Eretz Nehederet' (a popular Israeli satire show, resembling SNL). Everyone can contribute in their own way, not only in combat roles, and if I didn't get along in the military system, I would find another way to contribute my part and give my time as requested (considering the circumstances and our situation). Every other Israeli will contribute and give (to the extent they can / as much as they can)."

Naama really liked to listen to a variety of music styles. She especially liked Israeli music bands that most people her age didn't know. She used to listen to her music on a turntable that she bought with money her brother gave her for her birthday.
Naama loved nature and flowers and used to travel around the country.
Naama's favorite songs were "Imagine" by John Lennon and "Roof" by the Israeli rock band "The Giraffes", which she really loved and even went to four of their concerts.

"Naama's friend, Shay Tamino, dedicated her audition song in the Israeli music reality show "The Next Star" broadcast on November 1, 2023 in Naama's memory. Link to her performance.

Naama was the first fallen soldier of the Iron Swords War from the city of Afula. On the thirtieth day after her fall, hundreds of people from the city visited her grave, including Mayor Avi Elkabetz, family members, and friends and soldiers who came from all over the country. During the memorial, the "Giraffes" band sang the song ""Roof"" that she loved. The performance from the funeral.

Afula Municipality distributed to all kindergarten children in Afula a children's book in Naama's memory called "Naama's Garden". The children's author Sigal Magen wrote the book about Naama the girl who loved flowers and music. The book's publishing ceremony took place at the "Rotem" garden in the city center where a garden was planted in Naama's memory.

Afula Municipality also inaugurated a library named "Naamuna". The library is in the Shoham school in the city, where Naama's mother works.

At the commemorative evening held in memory of Naama in the army, her friends from the "Esh" personal affairs Course spoke about her. Bellow are their words:

Sivan's words:
"Hi, I'm Sivan from the "Esh" personal affairs Course.Today I want to talk to you about someone who is a true leader for me. For me, a leader is a person who thinks first of others and only then of oneself. A charismatic person, with a strong core, who knows how to receive criticism and deliver it, with high emotional intelligence, always thinks for the good of others, and more. I saw my idea of a leader in Naama. I have known Naama for two and a half weeks. And yet in two and a half weeks I managed to understand that she is my leader. Naama is the light of our course and there is no one here who would not agree with me. She is funny, supportive, always thinks of others before herself. And she simply has all the qualities a leader requires. Naama is a special girl. I've never known a girl like that. She is the type of friends that if you were chosen to be with, you really had it good. And this is not a cliché, like it might sound. I'm in the sergeant's team as you all know. And it's really hard for me. It's hard for me without sleeping hours and juggling between everything and trying to prove myself every day anew. And the only one I shared this with was Naama. This is the first time I say it like that, but you should know that this is a difficult situation. And the only one I really felt would understand me was Naama. And I shared with Naama that it's hard for me, and it sucks for me to go back to the room when they're all asleep. She did something for me that I never thought would be done for me. She stayed up for me every day until 2-3 in the morning, just to laugh with me, help me put fresh sheets and make sure I was okay. She got nothing out of it, and no one knows about it. She doesn't do such stuff to get something out of it. She does and gives because that's what she likes to do. So that's it. I just wanted to tell you all who Naama is from my perspective. And how lucky we all are to have her with us."

The words of Adi Zehavi:
"No matter how much I tried to postpone and repress this moment when I would have to write about you in the past tense and say the last words I will ever say to you, the time has come for everyone to know who you were to me and what a special person you are. My Naama, I have never met a person like you. The happiest in the world, the most optimistic, the most social and the most loving. Since what happened, I can't stop remembering how I met you. It was our first day in the army, I was crying and yelling at my commanding officer and dying to go home. The first thing you did when you saw me like that, even though we didn't know each other, was to give me a hug and say: 'Why are you crying, you moron?' and laughed. It was the only thing that made me stop crying. We didn't know each other and that's the first thing you did when you saw me cry. From there the rest is history. Every day that passes you and I got closer, we were always together. If it's while standing on queues together, in class sitting next to each other, on the bus, at school, sharing a bedroom during Shabbat at the base, anywhere. Even when I was on sick leave for three days, when I came back and saw you in the mass hall I just cried. I don't know why but I felt so connected to you, like I found my lost sister. I was so excited to see you. You were my anchor Naama, without you I would not have survived there for long. I remember that one evening during the course I felt kind of distressed, I had a lot of things on my mind. We were standing in two lines and I saw you after not seeing each other for half a day and as soon as I saw you I just felt peaceful. Inner peace and quiet. As if a stone fell from my heart. I hugged you and said to you: 'Naama, you're my peace'. You hugged me tight and then it hit me, and I really knew I had found my soulmate. This has never happened to me with any human being. Since then, we called each other 'My peace.' 'How are you, my peace?' 'How was your day, peace?' 'I miss you, my peace'. I kept telling you how lucky I am to have you in my life and that everyone would want a person like you in their life. You were special, you were something different, one in a generation. I really believe that you are an angel that God sent to me. I hope you are as proud of yourself as I am of you. How much light you brought everywhere you've gone. How much good you did to other people, how much you taught people and how much you inspired them. In one of the notes you sent me, you wrote: 'But I'm not running away anywhere and neither are you, at most we run away towards each other.' This is what strikes me the most. I want to run away to you, but I can't anymore. But I know you always hear me and look after me. I feel you with me in every step I take. Thank you for who and what you were to me, for teaching me what unconditional love is and what true friendship is, the kind of friendship I never known. Thank you that I had the privilege of going through the best period of my service and life with you and thank you for all the love you spread in the world. I miss our soulful conversations, I miss laughing with you until my stomach hurts, I miss your hug and your charm, the experiences with you that I will never forget. I'm not surprised that even in your death you push other people to live. Not surprised at your courage and determination even in your last moments. You didn't abandon your post despite everything and saved a lot of people who don't know where they would be today without you. So proud of you and hope you didn't suffer too much. I love you with all my heart and thank you for being a part of your life which unfortunately was too short. My peace, my eternal heroine, the pain will never go away. Miss you until we meet again. Forever young."

This commemorative page was compiled using materials from the links indicated above as well as materials published in the information sources below:

omny.fm
ynet
ynet