Captain Sahar Saudian

Daughter of Helen and David
Sister of Dor, Dvir, Stav and Dolev

Sahar was the youngest daughter of her parents, and had three brothers and a sister.
Sahar had been an industrious girl from a very young age. She started working at the age of 12 and continued to do so until she joined the Army. She was a babysitter for many years and exhibited a rare work ethic that children normally lack.

Sahar is a graduate of Begin High School in Rosh HaAyin. The following notice was published on the school’s website after her death:
The Begin High School Family mourns and deeply regrets the Saudians’ loss of their daughter, Sahar. Sahar was killed in the line of duty.
Lieutenant Sahar Saudian is a graduate of Begin High School (2020).
The school’s staff and students wish to extend their deepest condolences to the family.
May her memory be a blessing.

Dvir, Sahar’s brother, says that that he and Sahar dreamt of traveling to South America together after the Army.

Sahar joined the IDF on August 5, 2020. She served as a Training Officer with the 947th Regiment of the Air Defense Corps. In her last role, she commanded a team of Iron Dome operators.

A few days before the war started, Sahar had a car accident in the military and was on sick leave at home. She didn't want her friend to stay a second weekend at the base to replace her, so she forwent her sick leave and went back to the base on Thursday October 5, 2023.

On Saturday October 7, 2023 the Hamas surprise attack on the Gaza Envelope area began. Sahar was doing the morning shift, and in fact was the first officer to direct the interception of the rockets and missiles fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip with the Iron Dome. The team she led conducted itself professionally and effectively, and successfully thwarted the attack.

In a story published by YNET on October 30, 2023, Sahar's fellow soldiers described the way she performed in this battle:
"… Sahar was the first to identify on the screen the downpour of rockets coming out of the Strip in every possible direction at the very same second. Hundreds of launches within minutes in tremendous opening barrages. With one hand she operated, together with A, the interception missile launches towards the large number of rockets, and with the other hand she screamed 'immediate real' into the battery's public address system in order to roust everyone… The quick response of A and Sahar along with the rest of the soldiers in the battery who took their positions, probably prevented hundreds of additional deaths from direct hits… The air force says that the way Sahar and her subordinates performed, particularly during the first hour, prevented dozens of destructions sites with hundreds of casualties… Sahar's tremendous resourcefulness was revealed in her first test as an officer. She asked every soldier who took their position if they were alright and needed water, calmed us down and ran the event as the most senior officer in the battery. For her too, these were the first interceptions she had ever experienced as a combat soldier and commander… But this was only the beginning of Sahar's outstanding performance during the first hour of hell: as the most senior officer in the battery that morning, until the other commanders arrived, she realized that the hundreds of interceptions were not enough and that the worst was still ahead of us. At 7:16 am she wrote in the battalion's commanders group: 'everything is under control, be calm, we are protecting you'… Despite the first reports coming in to the battery as well, about the first terrorist invasions into our territory, she knew the interception missiles might run out… She volunteered to take upon herself the mission of arming the launchers closer to the border with more interception missiles. Sergeant Binyamin Gabriel and Sergeant Nativ Kotzero didn't hesitate and followed their commander. They raced from the battery on a D-max vehicle to the launcher sites with helmets on their heads and light flak jackets on their bodies…"

While on the vehicle with Binyamin and Nativ, Sahar texted her family: "Dear family, everything is ok, I am taking care of everything, protecting you, we'll talk when I can." This was her last message to her loving family.

On their way to the launchers, the team encountered a terrorist band in the vicinity of the Reim Junction at the entrance to Road 232. The band shot at their car and all three of them were killed.

When they fell, Sahar, Nativ and Binyamin displayed devotion to their mission and a striving for victory. They fell as heroes.

Sahar's mother tells of her character with the following words:
"We always hear good things about people who are no longer with us, that they were the salt of the earth and good at everything. In Sahar's case, I believe in this sentence one hundred percent. Sahar is a person who gives her all anywhere she goes…"

To illustrate this statement, her mother recounts how Sahar would call her brothers in the military when she was a little girl to ask them what food should be prepared for them when they came back home on leave.

When she grew older she still loved to treat her family and friends by making them tasty meals. She was the one who organized her friends' birthdays and class events at school.

Sahar loved hiking and spending time with her family and friends. Her mother says: "you could recognize her beautiful big smile from a distance, a smile that all of her family and friends are going to miss."

Sahar loved hiking in Israel in parks and nature reserves, on the beaches, visiting the "Darom Adom" festival in south of Israel and around natural water springs. In Sukkot 2023 she visited the Kineret with her family for a few days. This was how they loved spending their holidays. The Kineret and "Sovev Kineret" hikes were her favorite locations because she loved going there with her family.

A memorial page was created for Sahar on Instagram.

Since the October seventh attack, President Yitzhak Herzog and his wife Michal have been memorializing those who have been murdered and those who have fallen from all over Israel. In Sahar's memory and for the ascent of her soul, they lit two memorial candles at the president's residence. Sahar's memorialization on the website of the president's residence can be viewed through the following link.

After Sahar's death, a ceremony was held in her memory and in the memory of those who had fallen with her at Training Camp 1. Following are the words of one of the officers who spoke in her memory and in the memory of her fellow soldiers who had fallen with her:
"… Sahar was born on the eve of Tu Bishvat 2002, daughter to her proud parents Helen and David Saudian and beloved little sister to Dor, Dvir, Stav and Dolev. Her older brother is an officer in the air force, and so from a very young age Sahar dreamed of becoming a combat soldier and officer in the IDF – to lead and command. In August 2020 Sahar was drafted to serve in the air defense forces as part of the aerospace branch. Sahar was confident that nothing would stop her from fulfilling her dream and that no difficulty or barrier would prevent her from protecting her country and its residents as an officer. Sahar completed a commanders' course as well as an officer's course in Training Camp 1 but was not able to complete the specific professional step. She was suspended from the professional step for eight months, but later after improving her skills she was accepted back on the course, and after two years following a lengthy and arduous journey she was finally able to wear the long awaited ranks. Later Sahar was posted, filled with motivation, to serve as a combat officer in an Iron Dome battery in southern Israel, and it soon became apparent she was a leader and an inspiration to her subordinates. On October 6, 2023 Sahar Saudian was still supposed to recover from an injury at home, but in the name of the values of friendship and solidarity on which she was raised, values that had become an integral part of her charming personality, she couldn't agree to have her friend replace her on a Saturday shift on Simchat Torah and showed up at the unit. On the cursed morning of the next day, October 7 of 2023, Sahar and her brothers in arms on the shift had to deal with an incessant barrage of missiles coming from Gaza. Sahar and her soldiers level headedly intercepted the missiles, and Sahar who never for a moment stopped caring for her soldiers' safety was still able to write on her family's group: 'you can be proud of me'. Later when ammunition was running out and despite the serious danger they would be in, Sahar and two of her soldiers drove to the launcher near Gaza in order to arm it with ammunition. While driving in the vicinity of Kibbutz Reim, they encountered a group of cruel murderous terrorists who shot them to death. Sergeant Nativ Kotzero, Sergeant Binyamin Gabriel and Officer Sahar Saudian fell in battle. May their memory be blessed! We will cherish them forever and will always be proud of them!"

The blogger Doreen Cohen created a recipe in memory of Sahar – croissants with Nutella. Doreen says that Sahar loved this dish and would make it on weekends when she came back home from the military. The recipe and its preparation are shown in the following link.

Another recipe in Sahar's memory is pizza dough. The list of ingredients and method of preparation can be viewed in the following link.

On YouTube you can watch a touching video showing photos of Sahar and important milestones in her life from childhood to adulthood. The video is accompanied by Bruno Mars's song "Talking to the Moon" and Eyal Golan's song "Fighter". The video can be watched in the following link.

Sahar's story accompanied by her photos is recounted on the website LaMetayel BeIsrael in the following link.

At the Beit Hemed Avihay school in Netanya, the homeroom teacher of grade 5a Ayala Shmueli used a phrase that Sahar would often say – "a river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence" – in the personal part of her class's report cards for the first semester of the year. Ayala explained that by doing so, she wanted to connect war and heroism to the work and persistence required in studying, based on Sahar's powerful phrase. Through the teacher's initiative, the girls learned about Sahar by preparing a presentation about her. They learned of her bravery, her character, her personality traits and her actions. The purpose was that each girl would adopt something from Sahar and by that Sahar would continue to light everyone's way. Along with their report cards, the students received a small bag with two "Rozalach" cookies that Sahar loved and were baked in her memory. link.

The artist Sara Cohen created a series of AI images commemorating those who have fallen with angel figures. Sahar's figure can be viewed in a Walla post in the following link.